FINE OVER BOTCHED THEFT
A SECOND person has been sentenced for his role in an unsuccessful attempt to steal a wallet outside a courthouse.
Russell Gene White, 28, pleaded guilty in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday to stealing in relation to the theft of the expensive brown leather wallet containing
$575 in cash under the gaze of CCTV cameras on January 20.
Police prosecutor Jordan Theed said White, who had a dated criminal history of dishonesty offences, was one of three people involved in the badly botched crime. Mr Theed said 19-year-old co-defendant Kathleen Joyce Miller took the wallet from a ledge in front of the courthouse after it was left there by the victim.
He said the CCTV footage revealed that Miller, who has already pleaded guilty, palmed the wallet off to a second individual, who in turn handed the wallet to White.
Defence lawyer Margaret Crowther claimed her client had a very minor role in the theft and had little recollection of the incident as he had been drinking.
White was fined $300 on the stealing charge.
A conviction was recorded.