Not your plane old heist

A FORMER Geelong man whose plan to steal an aeroplane went awry when he was unable to load it on his trailer will spend at least six months in prison.

Long-time criminal Brock Smith, 33, appeared before Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday, pleading guilty to multiple counts of burglary, theft and driving offences.

The court heard Smith and an unnamed co-accused

The court heard Smith, who has been in prison for previous offending, used tools to break into a general store where he stole thousands of dollars of cigarettes, $900 in cash and an unknown quantity of alcohol.

Sen-Constable Groves said Smith’s blood was found smeared across the cigarette machine, allowing police to link him to the crime.

Then in April, Smith and a co-offender broke into an occupied house at Elcho Rd, Lara, while the owner was SAM MENEGOLA All smiles as he adopted the persona of Russell Coight. His jig wearing short shorts gave the All Aussie Adventures host a run for his money. inside. Sen-Constable Groves said Smith cut off the owner’s power and broke into the house to steal clothes and computers.

But the terrified owner called police, who quickly arrived at the scene and caught Smith and his cooffender in the act. The pair were arrested and charged.

Smith’s defence lawyer said her client had been diagnosed with ADD at a young age, dropped out of school and had been in and out of prison. She said Smith, who was supported by his mother, had family support and wanted to be able to develop a relationship with his daughter.

Magistrate Peter Mellas said Smith had pleaded guilty to a variety of offences including three serious burglaries.

Mr Mellas said Smith had planned the burglaries and arrived “tooled up” to the properties.

He sentenced him to 15 months’ jail with a six-month non-parole period.