By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A “bored” Cranbourne North man has been jailed over a raft of theft, weapon and drug offences while on a community corrections order.
The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to breaking into a Dandenong South business and stealing a tandem trailer and a ride-on lawn mower worth more than $23,500 in September, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard.
After stealing number plates from a nearby parked truck, the disqualified driver towed the loot to his home – a trip that was tracked by the mower’s GPS security device.
He was found by police with two zip-lock bags of ‘ice’, the stolen property and burgling gear such as gloves, bolt-cutters and oxyacetylene torch.
On 27 December, the man sat on a shower floor with a sawn-off shotgun threatening to harm himself after an argument with his partner at home in which he refused to go to a Drug Court appointment.
Police set up a cordon and arrested him. They found a rifle scope, a dagger, a bow and arrows, and 34 supersonic bullets in his home.
The accused, who was prohibited from having weapons, was involuntarily admitted for psychiatric treatment.
In a police interview, he said he’d had the shotgun for many years despite being raided many times by police.
The man also pleaded guilty to trying to break into a Ringwood car park’s ticket machine using numerous tools including a screwdriver in July 2017.
He also stole of tub of items from a timber yard at a Bunnings retailer in Dandenong South in September, and was charged with drug driving and several counts of unlicensed driving.
He had also gambled at an Officer venue in breach of a bail night curfew to “cheer up for my birthday” in February. He rode there unlicensed on an unregistered motorcycle with altered plates.
A defence lawyer told the court that the accused – who had made several suicide attempts – had recently improved after his first stint of mental health medication.
“It’s now or never” for the man to sort himself out, the lawyer said.
The accused had been promised full-time work, which wouldn’t allow him time to think about doing crime, the court heard.
“A lot of the offences were committed through boredom,” the lawyer said.
“He’s had enough and he doesn’t want to do jail anymore.”
Magistrate Pauline Spencer said the offending was “serious in itself” and “made more serious by the repeated nature”.
She noted the “very bad combination” of significant thefts, drugs and the “very concerning” possession of two firearms as a prohibited person.
She took into account that it had just come to light the man was suffering mental illness at the time, she said.
“I’m hoping with the medication, now you’ll be in a better position.”
He was jailed for 16 months, with a non-parole period of eight months that would include strict drug testing and mentoring.
A police application for the forfeiture of the motorcycle was opposed by the man’s family. That was adjourned to 4 July.
