Teen involved in $25k alcohol theft operation

A teenager faced court for his involvement in a $25k stolen alcohol scheme that took place in a local Roma establishment over 14 months.

AN OPERATION that resulted in over $25k of stolen alcohol from the Club Hotel Motel has resulted in involved parties facing up to their actions in court.

Lachlan William Jump-Waugh, 19, faced Roma Magistrates Court on Tuesday, facing one charge of fraud - dishonestly causing detriment.

Police prosecutor sergeant Heather Whiting told the court that between December 2018 and February 2020, the Club Hotel Motel in Roma provided employment to the primary youth co-offender involved in the matter.

The court heard that after reviewing CCTV footage, it was observed that the offenders used numerous methods to obtain the free alcohol, including dummy scanning where only an inexpensive item such as a packet of chips would be rung through or multiple alcoholic items would be scanned through, and then cancelled out after.

This happened over the period of several months.

On February 3, police executed a search warrant at Jump-Waugh's house in Roslyn Drive, but his parents who were home stated that he now resided in Toowoomba and he had started an apprenticeship there.

At 11.30am that same day, police rang the defendant's mobile and advised him of the investigation, where Jump-Waugh admitted to obtaining a carton of red rum for "cheap" from the primary youth offender.

On February 2, Jump-Waugh attended the Roma Police Station where he declined to make a comment.

The defendant's lawyer told the court that Jump-Waugh is embarrassed and sorry for his behaviour and had since been back to the Club Hotel Motel to pay for his involvement in the operation - to the value of $132.97.

"He was part of the overall scheme, even though he doesn't know why he took the alcohol because he has the money to pay for it which I guess makes it even worse," the lawyer said.

"It's out of character for him and he's remorseful for his actions."

Jump-Waugh pleaded guilty to the offence.

"It's a serious offence, it's a fraud offence," Magistrate Saggers said.

"You were a small part of something significantly bigger which caused a significant loss to a business."

Magistrate Saggers fined Jump-Waugh $750, with no conviction recorded.

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