Thief caught with quad bike, meat tells kidnap tale

When Adam Letchford was caught with stolen meat and a quad bike in a truck he pinched from a primary school, his explanation was simple: He had been kidnapped by gang members.

He told police he had been put in the back of the truck by the gang members, who he said later stopped the vehicle on the side of the road.

When the gang members took off, abandoning the truck, that’s when Letchford jumped out from the back, hopped into the front seat and drove off, he claimed.

But his tall tales didn’t wash with police and the 37-year-old was charged with the thefts.

On Thursday, he appeared in the Christchurch District Court, where he had a change of heart and admitted the offending.

According to the summary of facts, on December 4 last year around 10.30pm, Letchford entered a Christchurch primary school which at the time had an area of it under construction.

Letchford cut a hole in a fence that was securing the construction site and broke into a truck. He removed the vehicle’s GPS and pulled its ignition.

After cutting a padlock, Letchford drove the truck out of the area, damaging the school’s gate and plants in the process.

At the time, he did not hold a valid New Zealand driver’s licence and had been verbally forbidden by police from driving.

Letchford headed to Kaikoura, arriving at a farm about 3.45am. There, he unlatched the metal gate and drove into the shed area.

He loaded items on to the truck such as a quad bike, three boxes of meat, a firearms safe with locked compartments, firearms magazines and ammunition, a 270 Winchester bolt-action rifle and three .22 rifles.

Letchford left the farm and was heading south towards Christchurch when the truck was recognised by two witnesses who had seen a Facebook post made by its owner.

The police were also called.

Letchford stopped the truck in Waipara and got out, spending some time in nearby bush before he was approached by the witnesses.

Police arrived shortly after and arrested Letchford. They found the stolen quad bike and meat in the truck but the firearms and ammunition were not recovered.

Letchford told police he had been kidnapped, but he was charged with burglary, entering agricultural land without authority and being an unlicensed driver failing to comply.

In court, his pleas were recorded and he was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing on May 10.

 - By Emily Moorhouse

 - Open Justice multimedia journalist, Christchurch