Louis Pierard
An eye for a bargain can induce moral blindness. Inexplicably, people who knowingly buy stolen property are seldom regarded with the contempt that's reserved for those who do the stealing.
But a receiver of stolen property is more than a mere bargain hunter. And it can be argued that the
buyer of "hot" property is not only as bad as, but worse, than the thief. For without the willing buyer, the thief has no means of capitalising on his crime. The thief takes all the risks. The receiver gets all the benefits.
The pallet of meat stolen from a Hawke's Bay cool store is a case in point. More than 300 cartons of export quality sirloin and scotch fillet have been taken during the past three months. While it must say something about the lack of security at the cool store concerned, it also says much of all the willing hands into which the meat has passed.
The police say the thefts, which would have required at least a utility vehicle to transport, were a "money-making" venture. The Hastings District Court was told this month that the meat was sold on the streets at Maraenui. One man bought boxes of meat from the boot of a car.
Police have warned that anyone buying the meat could be prosecuted for receiving stolen property.
It is telling that such remark should have to be made at all. It is a concession to the widespread belief that receiving is a misdemeanour rather than a crime. We don't need reminding that the burglars could be prosecuted. Yet those who bought the meat fully knowing its dubious provenance are part of the problem and should be fully culpable. They are parasites who oil the wheels of crime and are complicit in preying on the rest of society.
