By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man bearing a bottle of bourbon and a brick has jumped a counter and cleaned out the serving tray at a fast food outlet in Narre Warren, a Dandenong Magistrates’ Court bail hearing was told.
The 41-year-old Noble Park man allegedly told staff at the Hungry Jack’s store in the late afternoon of 28 April that he was starving and didn’t care if they called police.
According to police, he took the stolen food and ate it in nearby hedges outside. There he was arrested.
At the time he was on bail on theft, equipped-to-steal and weapons charges arising five days earlier, the court heard on 1 June.
He was allegedly arrested by PSOs at Murrumbeena railway station with five stolen bottles of grog, a knife, axe, pliers and screwdriver.
Other weapons charges included carrying a sling-shot as well as a billiard ball in a sock on 26 January as well as contravening family violence intervention orders in February.
The man was also found with a chainsaw in January – which he wasn’t charged over, police told the court.
Bail was opposed by police, who argued the man was an unacceptable risk of reoffending.
He was on a 12-month community corrections order and bail at the time of the alleged food thefts.
Defence barrister Richard Davis argued for the man to be released on intensive CISP bail, with housing and mental health treatment.
At the time of offending, the man was “psychotic” due to not sleeping and using methamphetamine. His issues stemmed from being homeless, Mr Davis said.
In that state, he did “arm up” but didn’t use weapons to rob people, Mr Davis said.
The man had been in remand for the past four months and was no longer on drugs.
Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said the man was fortunate not to have been charged with armed robbery due to carrying the brick.
It was concerning the man “goes armed in society” several times as well as being equipped to steal, he said.
Mr Rozencwajg noted the man had “snubbed” previous opportunities to reform, such as a previous drug treatment order at Drug Court.
The bail hearing was adjourned until 3 June.
