Stealing ends in prison sentence

A TOOWOOMBA man that tried to walk out of Woolworths without paying for $207 of groceries, attempted to break into a tobacconist and sneaked a speaker out of Kmart has been jailed.

Robert Lawrence Burke appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to attempted stealing, entering a premises with intent and two charges of stealing.

The court was told that on June 30 the 39-year-old entered Woolworths at Grand Central Shopping Centre and tried to leave the store without paying for a trolley full of food to the value of $207.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Natalie Bugden said when Burke was confronted by staff he abandoned the trolley and left the shopping centre.

On July 3 at 1.28am Burke was caught on CCTV trying to break into TSG Harlaxton, however was unable to gain entry and was later found by police hiding in a cupboard of a Harlaxton home.

Three days later Burke was in Kmart Toowoomba where he took a bluetooth speaker out of the box and hid it in a bag. When confronted by staff he said he had purchased the speaker at JB Hi-Fi and left.

Sergeant Bugden said Burke was found by police at Neil Street bus station listening to the speaker, and said he had bought the speaker from Kmart two weeks ago.

Burke’s solicitor Michael McElhinny said his client was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 27, and his offending was a result of frustrations he had with the public trustee managing his finances.

Mr McElhinny said Burke had previous issues with cannabis but was 12 months clean.

Magistrate Graham Lee convicted Burke and sentenced him to nine months jail with immediate parole eligibility.