Brent Albert Lothian in court for stealing meat from Aldi

A former Gympie meat worker, stabbed in a high-profile knife attack, has re-emerged as a “recidivist” thief.

Brent Albert Lothian leaves Gympie Magistrates Court of January 16, 2024, after pleading guilty to two stealing charges.

A former meat worker who was stabbed in a vicious attack at a Gympie home in 2022 has faced court himself after stealing items including an “expensive” cut of meat from a Maryborough supermarket.

Brent Albert Lothian, 49, of Tamaree, pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing when he fronted Gympie Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The court heard one of the offences included the theft of meat from the Fraser Coast Aldi outlet on July 1, 2023.

Police prosecutor Mel Campbell told the court Lothian was a recidivist offender and the amount stolen showed the crime was “not for survival”.

Lawyer Chris Anderson said Lothian was a father of two who had been employed in various industries until about six years ago.

It was about this time he had started using methamphetamine, and in 2022 he was “fairly significantly” injured in the assault, Mr Anderson said.

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Brent Albert Lothian was with a friend when an “expensive” cut of meat was stolen from Aldi in Maryborough.

Mitchell Byrne and Tamika Geiger each pleaded guilty to charges laid over the March incident at their Southside home, in which Lothian was stabbed while trying to jump in his car to flee the pair.

Byrne pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, wounding, and offences related to good order behaviour, including obstructing police, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, possessing a knife in a public place, and failing to properly dispose of a syringe.

Geiger pleaded guilty to armed robbery, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and a number of good behaviour-related offences, including three counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two counts of failing to properly dispose of a syringe, processing utensils, driving without a licence (and despite having never held one), unregistered driving, and failure to appear.

Byrne was sentenced to five years jail, and Geiger to two-and-a-half years jail with immediate parole.

Brent Albert Lothian leaves Gympie Magistrates Court of January 16, 2024, after pleading guilty to two stealing charges.

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Gympie Magistrates Court heard Tuesday the attack had left Lothian with “bad anxiety” and left him struggling to lead his life “normally”.

When he stole the meat at Maryborough he had been with a friend who was “in a more vulnerable position” than he was.

The court heard this friend had “used up all of their money” and “had nothing to eat”.

Lothian “agreed to go along with the plan,” Mr Anderson said, and now “regretted his decision” and “should have simply come back to Gympie”.

Magistrate Bevan Hughes told Lothian his actions were a zero sum game in the long run.

“You cannot take things that are not yours,” Mr Hughes said.

“That’s obvious.

“You might think Aldi and Bunnings are big enough to look after themselves, but that’s not how it works.

“You now have to pay more because they increase the prices (to cover the loss of stock).”

Mr Hughes said Lothian’s four page criminal history dating back to 1993, showed him “in and out, in and out” of court.

This included a four-month jail term handed down in August 22, 2022 “for similar types of offending”, a sentence he was on parole for at the time of his latest crimes.

He gave Lothian a three-month jail term, and released him on immediate parole.