Dayle William Sneddon pleads guilty to unlawful possession of weapon, fraud, assault, stealing

The lawyer for a man with a history of stealing from parked vehicles said her client was determined to stay out of prison to be with his family.

A man has pleaded guilty to stealing a credit card from a vehicle and committing multiple counts of fraud.

A couple was out doing the gardening when a blatant thief entered the cabin of their Isuzu D-Max ute parked nearby and grabbed personal items including a mobile phone and bankcard.

Ipswich Magistrates Court heard the offender, Dayle Sneddon, quickly left the scene and used the bankcard to commit fraud.

Dayle William Sneddon, 31, from Goodna, pleaded guilty in Ipswich Magistrates Court to unlawful possession of a category R electrical antipersonnel device at Redbank Plains on January 3; assault at Camira on January 1; possession of dangerous drugs; entering premises and stealing on February 8; and six counts of committing fraud.

He appeared from jail via video-link.

Prosecutor Sergeant Molinaro said Sneddon had a distinctive tattoo on his lower leg which helped with identification and he had relevant criminal history for fraud.

In October 2018 he was sentenced to a three-year jail term immediately suspended for two years

In February 2019 he received a 42-month prison order, suspended for 42 months.

Sneddon had a history of stealing from parked vehicles, Sgt Molinaro said, including an offence in May 2019 in which he stole tools from a Nissan Navara while the work ute was parked in its owner’s driveway at Springfield.

The court heard Sneddon was returned to jail in February this year with his existing sentence set to expire in February 2023.

Defence lawyer Amy Zanders said Sneddon instructed he had been hanging out with the wrong crowd and been through periods of homelessness and couch surfing.

While in jail had been working on completing his year 10 certificate.

The court heard Sneddon had been prevented from seeing his four children while in jail because of Covid restrictions.

“He is at the age now where he doesn’t want to be in prison. He wants to be with family and be a father to his children,” Ms Zanders said.

Magistrate Andy Cridland said he had a lengthy criminal history and drug court entries.

With 134 days spent in custody taken into account, Sneddon received a two-year jail sentence with immediate eligibility to begin making his parole application.