There were double takes from passing drivers and two Mormon missionaries stopped for photos as Lenard Phillips’ 15-tonne armoured personnel carrier was delivered to his door in suburban Auckland.
The 68-year-old has been waiting three years to get it back since police officers came to the Orakei pensioner’s state house and took the FV432 as part of an asset seizure under the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Act, after the previous owner got into trouble with the law.
“It’s good to see her back home,” he said as the vehicle was rolled on to his front yard on Wednesday afternoon.
It has been an uphill battle for the former military man to get the vehicle back, and after all the ups and downs, he said he found himself less excited than he thought he would have been.
He and his lawyer Dr Richard Keam have been jumping through hoops for the last three years in order to get the vehicle back and, in early August, Phillips finally got the news from his lawyer he’d been waiting to hear.
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