Gregory James Murphy steals watches, clothes, liquor and more in Qld crime spree
A serial thief has pleaded guilty to his most recent crime spree across Central Queensland. From liquor to clothing to a barbecue, nothing and nowhere was safe.
Police & Courts
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A 35-year-old man’s brazen crime spree ranged from Mackay to Gladstone, with nothing and nowhere safe from his light fingers.
Gregory James Murphy stole watches, clothes, liquor, and more not two months after his release from jail.
He pleaded guilty in Mackay Magistrates Court to several charges of stealing, driving with a suspended licence, and stealing after a previous conviction.
Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan explained to Murphy that stealing after a previous conviction was a higher level charge allowing police to punish repeat offenders.
“If someone has no history of stealing, they get punished with stealing,” Ms Hartigan said.
“But when someone has a number of stealing (offences) on their criminal history, then police can charge you with that more serious stealing (after previous conviction).”
Murphy said he understood and admitted he had “got pages of history”.
The court heard his offending restarted on August 8, when he stole clothing from Sportscene Super Warehouse in Rockhampton’s Norman Gardens.
On the same day, he stole two bottles of liquor from the Allenstown Dan Murphy’s.
Both charges were more serious as they followed his conviction on June 23 for stealing power tools and Oakley sunglasses.
So too was a charge of stealing a mower and barbecue from Bunnings in Gladstone on September 25.
The court heard Murphy also stole a generator from Yeppoon’s BCF outlet on September 21.
That same day, he was caught driving with a suspended licence on Arthur Street and Hoskyn Drive in Yeppoon.
Legal representative Sean Gibbs said there was one more charge in Rockhampton that had yet to be served and the matter was transferred.
An additional stealing charge was added and Murphy had his matters adjourned to Rockhampton courthouse on December 9.
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