Bizarre school break-in

A BELL Post Hill man broke into a private school’s art centre, cut himself and crafted messages in modelling clay after a big night on the drink, a Geelong court has heard.

Jamie Eldredge, 28, admitted he wrote “help” and “000” in clay when he broke into the Geelong College junior campus building on Minerva Rd overnight on May 10.

Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard the man, a convicted armed robber, cut himself while getting into the facility through a window he had broken.

“One drunken night has led to a great deal of embarrassment for Mr Eldredge,” the man’s lawyer, Caitlin WellsSimon said.

She said her client committed an act of “extreme stupidity” rather than a “calculated” crime, explaining he was drunk, disoriented and desperate to get dry after being caught in pouring rain after a night of boozing.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Scott Bell said the man opened cupboards and cabinets in the building and put heaters on, but there was no allegation that he had stolen anything.

Ms Wells-Simon said Eldredge’s guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and his offer to pay for the damage demonstrated his remorse.

“He feels bad about this and wants to set it right,” Ms WellsSimon said.

The court was told Eldredge, who works two jobs as an apprentice bricklayer and barman, was released on parole after getting a four-and-ahalf-year jail term for acts of armed robbery and perjury in 2012. But it was his only prior court appearance, and the court heard he’d completed his parole before committing these acts of criminal damage and trespass.

Magistrate John Lesser fined the man $1000 with $122 in costs, noting his debt to the school had not yet been determined but was likely to fall between $250 and $1000.