Thief returns 50 prized goldfish

Photo / Northern Advocate

The Greymouth goldfish thief has had a change of heart and returned about 50 prized fish stolen from a couple's pond.

Allan and Kaye Smith were "gutted" when they discovered 90 goldfish were stolen while they were out last Saturday.

Mrs Smith said she discovered about 50 had been returned when she went to feed the remaining three fish on Tuesday.

"I let out a yell...I said, 'They're back!"'

The fish were "very hungry" and had to be fed twice.

Talk about who stole them would have spread quickly in the small community, Mrs Smith said.

"They panicked and brought them back."

She said she struggled to understand why someone would steal them.

"We've got a heart of gold. Someone only had to knock on the door and say, 'Kaye or Allan, could we have a couple of goldfish?' and we would have given them to them."

The fish, which had belonged to Mrs Smith's late father, had been given to the couple when her mother got too old to look after them.

Mr Smith made a big pond with a bridge eight years ago, and the couple bred up to 90 fish from the original 30 they were given.

Mrs Smith said while she was pleased the goldfish were returned, she was upset the thieves had smashed some garden ornaments, including a birdbath she had saved up to buy.

- NZPA