Auckland jewellery store heists: Christchurch teen Bayley Christensen tried to sell pilfered items on social media

A teenager who was arrested one day after an early morning smash-and-grab at a high-end central Auckland jewellery store has admitted his connection to two prior jewellery store heists — including one that resulted in the pilfering of more than $700,000 worth of merchandise.

Christchurch resident Bayley James Christensen, now 20, was set to appear in Auckland District Court today via an audio-visual feed so he could plead guilty to two counts of receiving stolen jewellery. His lawyer instead entered the guilty pleas on his behalf after a last-minute scheduling issue with Christchurch Men’s Prison, where he is being held in the youth unit.

Judge Nevin Dawson ordered him to appear at Christchurch District Court in June for sentencing on all charges, including the central Auckland smash-and-grab for which he earlier pleaded guilty.

Police apprehended Christensen on August 30 last year, the same day that the Michael Hill store on Queen St was burgled just before 3am.

Authorities said at the time that a group of thieves were forced to flee in two vehicles after fog cannons were activated inside the store. They had gained entry by smashing a side window, and jewellery cabinets inside the business had been smashed as well. The cabinets appeared to be mostly empty as an alarm rang loudly and glass shards covered the ground that morning.

During his arrest, police seized Christensen’s phone and found details of two other heists: one targeting Southmall Jewellers in Manurewa during business hours on July 25, 2022, and another targeting a Michael Hill jewellery store in Newmarket on Aug 24, 2022, just a week before the Queen St Michael Hill store was burgled.

During the Manurewa heist, two offenders burst into the business just after 2pm and made off with about $40,000 worth of jewellery after using hammers to smash the display cabinets, court documents state. The Newmarket incident occurred just after 3.30am and involved five people who arrived and left in a stolen vehicle after smashing the front door and grabbing jewellery estimated to be worth $714,616.

“The offenders were fully clothed; wearing gloves, face coverings and had their hoods up, concealing their identity,” police said twice in court documents, referring to both the Manurewa and Newmarket incidents. “Police were not able to confirm the identity of the offenders.”

But the details extracted from Christensen’s phone - including photos and social media activity - did show that he had been in possession of about $62,000 worth of the missing Newmarket jewellery and another $10,000 to $12,000 worth of merchandise that had been looted from the Manurewa store.

“The defendant photographed the jewellery and made attempts to sell the jewellery via social media,” court documents state. “The defendant boasted via private messages about his criminal offending and being in possession of approximately $80,000 worth of jewellery.”

Christensen also photographed himself holding a large stack of cash and sent it to a friend, saying that he had made $10,000 from jewellery, police said.

“The defendant messaged different associates claiming he was going to buy a car, save for a house and was going to stop once he made $50,000,” court documents state.

Both receiving stolen property convictions are punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment.

The jewellery stores are also seeking reparation for the items that were in his possession.