Joseph Brendan Donohue pleads guilty to drug possession and shoplifting

A magistrate has handed a drug-addledsex offender a second chance at completing a court order, after he was caught stealing just a month after being placed on a first order.

Joseph Donohue. Picture: Facebook

A magistrate has handed a drug-addledsex offender a second chance at completing a court order, after he was caught stealing just a month after being placed on the order.

Joseph Brendan Donohue, 36, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with three counts of possessing a drug of dependence, two counts of shoplifting and breaching a community corrections order (CCO).

The Norlane man was sentenced to the 15-month CCO in December, after pleading guilty to 13 charges, including unlawful assault, affray, dishonestly receiving stolen goods, using a carriage service to harass, two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail, four counts of shoplifting and failing to report internet usernames and comply with reporting obligations.

Less than a month later, on December 31, Donohue stole about $76 worth of items from Big W in Westfield, before being caught stealing just under $400 worth of Burberry, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren fragrance packs from Chemist Warehouse.

The court heard Donohue was apprehended on Ryrie St, where he was found with vials of prescription drugs including anabolic steroids as well as suboxone, a drug used to treat opiod addiction.

When interviewed by police, Donohue made full admissions and said the prescription drugs were his, but admitted he did not have a prescription for any of them.

Donohue’s lawyer, Stephanie Mawby, told the court her client had “complex mental health and addiction issues” and he had made an effort to engage with the order.

“His compliance is improving, he’s trying,” Ms Mawby said.

Ms Mawby said Donohue had been diagnosed with schizophrenia “at an early age” and had spent some time behind bars.

In 2019, he was jailed over two separate matters, including a charge of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16.

The victim was a girl in her early teens with an intellectual disability. Donohue was 29 years old at the time.

Ms Mawby told the court Donohue had a number of supports in place, both through the CCO and through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Magistrate Peter Mellas said Donohue needed to “do the work” to get clean, and that drugs were “not the answer”.

He said it was likely the offending had occurred due to Donohue having no supports upon his release, and falling back into old habits.

However, Mr Mellas said there were “worrying signs” and said it was time for Donohue to “knuckle down”.

“You’re back using (and) that means you then go back to stealing,” he said, noting the stolen items were “high value items”.

“These items aren’t your day-to-day (items) … this smacks of you stealing those things, so you can dispose of them to fund your drugs,” Mr Mellas said.

Mr Mellas encouraged Donohue to take advantage of support from Corrections Victoria.

“They will work to help you do the work you need,” he said.

Mr Mellas deferred sentence on the new matters and varied Donohue’s existing CCO to include judicial monitoring.

Donohue will return to court on August 1.

Originally published as Joseph Brendan Donohue pleads guilty to drug possession and shoplifting