Gecko thief given bail

Mike Dinsdale | 29th July 2010

A Poroti man who pleaded guilty to burglary and possessing 26 geckos stolen from two Northland wildlife sanctuaries has been granted bail and ordered to stay away from the two properties.

Justin Mathew Howes, 19, appeared in Whangarei District Court yesterday for a bail hearing.

Howes was remanded in custody on July 19 when he pleaded guilty to two indictably-laid burglary charges and one laid summarily under the Wildlife Act of without lawful authority having had in his possession absolutely protected wildlife, namely geckos.

Seven of the geckos were stolen from an enclosure in the Kiwi House at Maunu Museum between 8pm on June 28 and 9.15am the next day. The other 19 geckos recovered by police - a mixture of green and Duvaucel's geckos - were stolen from Ti Point Reptile Park at Leigh, near Warkworth, on June 27.

 Howes  is to be sentenced  in November. As part of his bail conditions, Howes is not allowed to go within 100 metres of the Kiwi House or Te Point Reptile Park. He was also ordered to adhere to a curfew between 7pm and 7am.

Howes jemmied a lock on the Kiwi House enclosure and stole the geckos.

Among the geckos stolen from Maunu Museum by Howes at the end of June was Fat Albert, the museum's forest gecko who managed to evade an earlier, unrelated, theft.

All the geckos were recovered alive after being found in a specially-built enclosure at Howes' Poroti home on July 6.

All New Zealand geckos are fully protected, meaning that they may only be handled, collected or kept in captivity under permit. It is illegal to deliberately harm them. The illegal possession of a forest gecko is an offence under the Wildlife Act 1953.