Ararat shearer Talor Hammond faces County Court for Langi Morgala Museum antique pistol thefts

An Ararat sheep shearer broke into a volunteer-run museum where he stole three antique guns including a Nazi-era Luger.

The Langi Morgala Museum in Ararat. Picture: Facebook

A light-fingered sheep shearer who stole a Nazi pistol and other antique firearms from a regional volunteer-run museum to make some cash was brought undone by a pair of socks.

New Zealand national Talor Hammond, 31, was sentenced at Ballarat County Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to burglary, theft of jewellery, and theft of firearm.

The court heard that on September 14, 2023, a volunteer at the Langi Morgala Museum in Ararat arrived at the building to find broken glass and other signs of a break-in.

The back door was open, with pieces of a lock and a pair of tin snips were on the ground.

Inside, a jewellery cabinet had been smashed and looted, as had a weaponry cabinet, and a safe had been opened.

The museum’s longarms were left untouched, but three pistols – an English percussion revolver, a hammer percussion revolver, and a German World War II Luger – were missing.

Neither the jewellery nor the weapons have been recovered, and the pistols’ exact value is unknown.

A German Luger pistol. Picture: Collection Paul Regnier/Wikipedia

Langi Morgala Museum was closed for more than a month following the burglary.

On September 15, 2023, the Ararat & District Historical Society, which manages the museum, posted online that it was “absolutely devastated”.

“The museum is run solely by a small team of volunteers,” it said.

“None of us is paid and the society receives no funding from any source.

“Our only source of funds comes from the small amount of money we receive from paid visitors.

“The more time we keep our door closed, the less money we get to pay our bills and restore items of our district’s heritage.”

Police found DNA on a cabinet and on a pair of socks at the scene, which linked the crime to Hammond.

Hammond was arrested in June 2024 and has spent 234 days in custody. Picture: File

When he was arrested in June 2024, he initially denied involvement, but eventually made full admissions.

Hammond told police he went to the museum as a “carrier” for another person, and the plan was to sell the stolen items.

He, however, made no money, as he was remanded about a month later on other matters.

The court heard the guns were inoperable, but it remained unclear whether they could be made to function again.

Judge Sarah Dawes said pistols were “particularly pernicious” and that regardless of whether the guns worked, anyone confronted by them would be terrified.

Hammond was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment and a 12-month community corrections order, with 234 days already served in custody.