Burglars make bad call leaving phone

A BUNGLING burglar gave police a helping hand when he left his mobile phone at a building site he and a mate tried to steal from in Armstrong Creek.

When officers found the phone they discovered a series of text messages between the pair detailing their plan to steal from the school construction site, including confirmation of their meeting time and the tools they planned to use.

The phone’s owner, Thomson man Brent Neil James, pleaded guilty to the crime in Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday, and a raft of other crimes committed last year and early this year.

Magistrate Peter Mellas jailed the concreter-bricklayer for 16 months, with a nonparole period of eight months, on the theft, driving and damage matters, and a charge laid after he spat in the face of a police officer while being held in custody earlier this year.

The court heard James and his co-offender broke into the Armstrong Creek school site at midnight on August 17 last year. They searched the site for 10 minutes, but fled when confronted by patrolling security staff.

The guards took photos of the men and called police, who found the phone, which led to the co-offender.

The court heard James raided a building site in Ocean Grove a month later, stealing $2500 of new property from the unoccupied home, including a split system air conditioner, shower heads, toilet rollholders and door jambs. He left his fingerprints on a door, helping police connect him to the crime.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Geoff Lamb said James was taken into custody on January 23 after driving through two red lights in central Geelong when police tried to pull him over.

The officer on his tail quickly abandoned the pursuit of the unlicensed driver for safety reasons, but within minutes the car was found abandoned on Ryrie St and he was arrested nearby.

The court heard the man spent time in jail last year for a separate police pursuit, and was put on a community corrections order when he was released from custody.

Defence lawyer Matthew Cookson said the defendant, 28, had been taking drugs half his life, graduating from cannabis to speed and then ice, and most recently had grappled with heroin addiction.

With a list of prior convictions for driving, drugs and weapons offences, and previous opportunities to help the man address his drug issues ignored, Mr Mellas said he was “relatively guarded” about the defendant’s prospects of rehabilitation.

He also fined James $1000 and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.