A WANGARATTA magistrate has told a defendant that he and his co-accused had performed “one of the lowest forms of theft” when they stole a wallet and a phone from a Wangaratta gym change rooms and went on shopping spree with the stolen credit cards. The court heard this week that on 1 February about 9:45am the Chiltern man, together with his co-accused Wangaratta accomplice, went into Bunnings and stole spray paint and a pair of gloves each valued at $157. They were captured on CCTV leaving in a white rental car belonging to an Evans Street resident. At 12:55pm the pair made their way to the Wangaratta Sports and Aquatic Centre change rooms, where the co-accused took a phone and a wallet. Throughout the afternoon the two offender would use the stolen card to purchase a 10-pack of bourbon from Dan Murphy’s and $110 worth of items from Big W. Using a Find My Phone function, the victim and police located the phone at an Evans Street address, matching the owner of the hire vehicle spotted at Bunnings Warehouse. Officers attended that afternoon and located the stolen Bunnings items, the stolen phone and the two thieves hiding under beds. “We were just going to get some stuff but we ended up stealing it unfortunately,” the Chiltern man told police. Defence counsel Geoff Clancy said his client’s friend was well-known to police and had initiated the offending. “He’s made some poor choices here and he’s made some admissions,” he said. Magistrate Ian Watkins said stealing items from a change room was one of the “lowest forms of theft out there”. “And to make matters worse, he buys booze with it,” he said. Mr Clancy said alcohol had been a problem for his client and he would be willing to reach out to undergo drug and alcohol counselling if a deferred sentence was given. Magistrate Watkins adjourned the matter for sentence on 14 July.
