NSW: Chopper thief intended to return it, court told
05 Feb 2009 1:53 PM
SYDNEY, Feb 5 AAP - A former police officer who stole a helicopter from a Sydney airport always intended to return it, but was delayed due to bad weather, his lawyer says.
Mark Cavanagh, from Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast, had pleaded guilty to breaking into the helicopter hangar of Lia Colbert, at Bankstown Airport, and stealing an ex-military Kiowa chopper on April 26 last year.
On May 7, Cavanagh advised Taree police he had taken the helicopter and told them where it was.
Cavanagh's lawyer, Peter Hamill SC, told a sentencing hearing in the NSW District Court in Sydney on Thursday that his client only intended to take it for a joy ride.
Mr Hamill told Judge Mark Marion the helicopter was not returned earlier due to severe weather warnings.
"I had no sinister intention and did not intend to deprive the owner of it," Mr Hamill said his client had told him.
Mr Cavanagh was formerly attached to the Kempsey police station on the mid-north coast, clocking up 17 years with the NSW Police Force before retiring last year.
The hearing is continuing.
