Family devastated by theft of woodchopping trophy

Cherry Daly with a photo of her mother Gwen Daly and the Mick Griffin Memorial Trophy, named in honour of her axeman grandfather. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

By Peter de Graaf - RNZ

A Northland family is devastated after the theft of a trophy they say is a priceless piece of New Zealand woodchopping history.

The Mick Griffin Memorial Trophy is also precious for the gold plaques that adorn its base, which the family fears will be prised off and melted down.

Cherry Daly, a granddaughter of champion axeman Mick Griffin, said one person had, so far, been arrested in relation to the burglary — but the trophy had not been recovered.

Daly said an investigating officer told her police were unable to carry out a search of suspects' homes because of budget cuts.

The former Bay of Islands College deputy principal, who now lives outside Whangārei, said the whole family was devastated by the theft of the trophy — but she felt it most acutely, because of her close relationship with her grandfather.

Daly said the trophy was made from mottled kauri in 1966, the year her grandfather died.

Mounted around the base were 24 plaques in the shape of axe heads, made from nine-carat gold and inscribed with the names of past winners.

They included woodchopping legend Innes Davidson, the late world champion Jason Wynyard, and most recently Jack Jordan.

“It really is a who’s who of wood chopping,” Daly said.

The gold alone was worth many thousands of dollars.

The late Gwen Daly with the Mick Griffin Memorial Trophy, named in honour of her axeman father, in a photo taken around 2011. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

The theft

Daly said the trophy was taken on November 14.

Security camera footage showed a car pulling up outside her home just after 3am.

A man and woman got out, with the man knocking at the front door.

The footage did not show how the woman got into the house, but it did show her emerging later with a bundle under her arm.

The woman put the bundle into the vehicle, while she drove off in Daly’s car.

Daly said she slept through the burglary.

“Fortunately, I didn’t hear the knock. If I’d gone to the door, goodness knows what would’ve happened to me.”

She only noticed her car was missing the following morning.

She rang her brother, who told her to check if the trophy had been stolen.

Daly told him that was impossible because it was wrapped in a blanket and hidden in an obscure part of the house.

She checked anyway and felt her heart sink when she discovered it was missing.

The man’s face was obscured by a hoodie but the woman and the car’s registration plate were clearly visible in the security camera footage. A third person remained in the car.

After the theft

A nephew posted an image of the woman on social media and by 5pm that day she had been identified.

She was arrested the following day and was due to be sentenced next month.

Daly said her stolen car had been sold in a parking lot for $500.

It was recovered in Kaitāia, but by then everything had been removed, down to the mats.

Daly said she kept being put off when she asked police about trying to recover the trophy.

In December she finally met with an officer at the Whangārei station.

“He said that they weren’t able to go ahead with the search warrants because one of the houses they’d earmarked required a member of the Armed Offenders Squad to be part of the search party, and budget cuts meant the station couldn’t afford the extra costs.”

Daly said she was concerned a lack of funding had left police unable to act.

“We hear about other areas that are having costs trimmed, but I’ve never heard of anything within the police. Limiting them being able to carry out their duties is a huge surprise and a disappointment,” she said.

“This is a significant piece of New Zealand sporting history, and to not be able to do whatever they thought was necessary to try and locate it or get some leads, is very disappointing for the whole family.”

Mick Griffin was a champion axeman who competed from the early 1900s to 1935. Photo: supplied

Police investigating

Senior Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, of Whangārei police, said staff were continuing to investigate the burglary, and were not ruling out further arrests.

However, because it was still an active investigation, police could not publicly discuss some aspects of the case.

Asked about funding, Wilkinson said police always had to balance resources against demand.

“Every day, we make decisions around deploying our available resource, including specialist teams, alongside other demands from other ongoing investigations or calls for service. Some enquiries may require additional specialist resource when safety or other requirements are taken into consideration,” he said.

“Whangārei Police will continue to do our utmost to locate and return the family’s precious heirloom.”

Trophy displayed

Meanwhile, Daly said another alarming aspect of the burglary was that the woman seemed to know where to find the trophy.

People knew her family had the trophy — it was on display during competitions at the Whangarei A&P Show — but very few knew where it was hidden.

“There’s no way they could have gone in and just located it. My house is stacked full of stuff, it would have taken two days of searching to find it,” she said.

“I don’t know these people, so who told them it was there? That’s really worrying, because very few people knew exactly where it was. It makes you look sideways at everybody that you trusted, because somebody has passed that on to these people.”