Fuel pirate runs aground

A fuel thief at a Hawke's Bay quarry was disturbed by campers and drove his stolen stash into a swimming hole, Masterton District Court heard yesterday.
Mark Ellmers, 39, of Masterton, pleaded guilty to theft of diesel late last year at a quarry near Waipawa.
He also pleaded guilty to intentional damage, and unlawfully being in a yard.
The quarry premises housed several heavy diesel machines and a locked shipping container.
Ellmers was driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle with an enclosed trailer, a portable fuel pump, bolt cutters, wire-cutters, and about four 20-litre containers.
To gain access, he and another person drove off-road through a pine plantation alongside the quarry, cutting through several fences as they went.
The pair cut 50 strands of wire and six fences, which later cost $620 to repair.
They siphoned about 65 litres of diesel from one of the quarry vehicles, then tried to break the lock on the shipping container.
The noise the pair made disturbed a group of people camping nearby, which included employees of the company mining the quarry.
As the campers went to investigate, Ellmers drove the vehicle in an attempt to find another way out of the compound, in the process getting the vehicle stuck in a swimming hole.
Ellmers fled on foot, later phoning police to confess.
Judge Carrie Wainwright remanded Ellmers until March 21, for a pre-sentence report.