Benjamin Craig Faulds sentenced after breaking onto farm and stealing more than $6000 in tools

A Mount Gambier man performed a series of burnouts outside a home before returning to abuse the victim he had just terrorised.

A man has avoided jail after pulling a series of burnouts outside a home before returning to abuse the victim he had just terrorised.

Benjamin Craig Faulds, 28, was sentenced in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Friday after spending nearly a year on home detention bail.

A police prosecutor told the court Faulds terrorised one of his victims on May 12, by pulling a series of burnouts outside his Tarpeena house, damaging a fence and letter box in the process.

Faulds drove away, only to return half an hour later yelling “come outside you f**king c*nt”, a court has heard.

Benjamin Craig Faulds fronted the Mount Gambier Magistrate Court. Picture: Facebook

Between June 2 and 4 Faulds broke into a Kalangadoo farmer’s secure storage shed, stealing farming equipment and two 20L jerry cans of petrol, a court has heard.

Valued at $6795, the Kalangadoo farmer was able to claim the lost items on insurance, except for $500 in excess.

Last year Faulds was arrested on June 14 and was facing additional charges of aggravated serious criminal trespass and aggravated commit assault but those charges were eventually withdrawn.

Faulds pleaded guilty to one count of serious criminal trespass, one count of dishonestly take property without consent and three breaches of bail committed between May and June, 2021.

He also pleaded guilty to breaching bail on three separate occasions since June, 2021, the most recent of which occurred in March, 2022.

The court heard Faulds was previously sentenced on numerous occasions on charges of serious criminal trespass in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Given his history of similar offending a police prosecutor pushed for immediate imprisonment.

“He has priors for serious criminal trespass — multiple dishonesty offences for which she has served multiple terms of imprisonment,” a police prosecutor said.

“The fact that he has breached his bail also shows that he hasn’t had an exemplary record while being on home detention.”

Faulds’ lawyer Lamorna Alexander however pleaded with the court, asking for any term of imprisonment to be served on home detention, despite his previous breaches.

Ms Alexander told the court the defendant had struggled to cope since his mother overdosed on opioids in 2010.

Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos warned Faulds he had a “shocking history” and the law came down hard on counts of serious criminal trespass.

Ms Kossiavelos will allow Faulds to serve his time on home detention.

Faulds was sentenced to 18 months on home detention, which was reduced to 9 months and 22 days after a 30 per cent discount was applied and a four month credit for time already spent on home detention.

He was also ordered to pay $500 in compensation to his victim.