Meth addict Robert Kent sentenced for Gladstone Woolworths thefts

When a serial Central Queensland thief tried to make it out of a Woolworths store with a trolley stacked with more than $1000 worth of goods, a witness wasn’t having it.

A serial thief targeted the Woolworths Kin Kora store multiple times. Generic image.

A serial Central Queensland thief’s tale of woe has been laid bare with a court hearing he spends “all his money” funding his meth habit.

Robert Christopher Kent, 49, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to two counts of stealing and one count of failing to appear.

The court heard Kent, who had a history of stealing, targeted Woolworths Kin Kora on two occasions.

The first was on April 29 last year when he filled a trolley with about $700 worth of items and left through the store’s entrance without paying.

Then days later, on May 7, he went back there and filled a trolley with $1014 worth of goods - his exit route was the same.

However, this time a member of the public apprehended Kent and that person returned the trolley full of items to the store.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Kevin Ongheen said Kent, when questioned by police, told them he “spends all his money funding his drug addiction and he has no choice but to steal food.”

The court heard Kent had a five-page criminal history which included numerous previous stealing offences.

Solicitor Caitlin Dee said Kent, a father of two who was receiving Newstart Allowance, had a methamphetamine problem.

Magistrate Mary Buchanan fined Kent $250 and ordered he pay $700 restitution.

Convictions were recorded.