Burg’s bluff called with poker
A BURGLAR from South Geelong was caught in a citizen’s arrest after a confrontation with a resident armed with a fire poker.
Nicole Robertson was rummaging through a garage in Melbourne’s western suburbs on March 18 — allegedly alongside her boyfriend — when a woman who lived at the property returned home.
The resident armed herself with a fire poker and struck Robertson’s boyfriend twice after he allegedly advanced towards her.
Several witnesses then pounced on the couple, hold- ing them until police arrived. Robertson, 45, a mother of three, pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday to burglary and theft charges for offences committed over a six-month period.
The court heard many offences happened when Robertson was on bail or serving a community corrections order.
Robertson’s crime spree started on December 27 last year, when she took a man’s wallet that had been dropped in a North Geelong carpark.
Rather than handing in the wallet to a police station, Robertson took several bank cards and used them to buy retail items, top up her myki pass and pay for a taxi.
But she came undone when one of the cards was declined as she tried to buy $99 worth of clothing from a store in Westfield Geelong.
She mistakenly left her own wallet in the store with her driver’s licence.
Robertson also pleaded guilty to stealing a bag from a Newtown gym on February 9 that contained two iPhones, clothing and $45 cash.
The court was told Robertson had spent the past six months in custody.
Her lawyer said Robertson turned to drug use several years ago.
She was remanded and will return to court for sentencing next month.