Bungling bogged bandit jailed
A CROOK who drove dangerously close to police and who got bogged as he tried to get away with his loot during a farm break-in has been jailed for nine months.
Sam Thomson, 30, was on bail when he snuck on to a Moriac farm on August 24 and hooked up a trade trailer to the stolen car he was driving.
As he tried to get away towing the trailer along the railway line at Moriac, Thomson and a woman also in the car became bogged.
Eagle-eyed farm staff filmed Thomson revving the car as he attempted to get it out of the mud, court documents released by Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday reveal.
When the car wouldn’t move, Thomson and his accomplice ran through neighbouring paddocks to get away.
When police eventually caught Thomson, who was subject to a firearms prohibition order, they found him with a folding knife and a silencer.
In the stolen car police found stolen property including laptops, jewellery, passports and collectables worth more than $8000.
Thomson, of Mildura, also faced court after he drove at dangerous speeds, including 132km/h in a 50km/h zone, to get away from police who tried to stop him for a roadside breath test on August 11.
Court documents reveal
Thomson swerved around officers at the breath-testing site outside Mildura to get away, and that his dangerous driving put five officers at risk of injury.
The court was told Thomson, who is addicted to the drug ice, had not engaged in court-ordered drug rehabilitation.
Magistrate Simon Guthrie said the police officers were simply “doing their job” and urged Thomson to “move on” and stop committing crimes.
Mr Guthrie sentenced Thomson to a 15-month community corrections order that will require him to complete 150 hours of community work and undergo drug treatment when he is released from jail.
Thomson, pictured left, was also convicted following petrol thefts at Torquay, Colac and Little River between August 22 and 23.
He pleaded guilty to drug possession, recklessly putting police officers at risk by driving, theft, handling stolen goods, dangerous driving and failing to stop on police direction.