Luke Heginbotham in Maroochydore court for Sunshine Coast thefts

A man who stole cash, motorbikes and $16,000 worth of jewellery during a shocking string of break and enters across the Sunshine Coast is behind bars over the destructive rampage.

Luke Heginbotham

A drug-addict dad has been labelled a criminal who is “wasting his time on this planet” after he stole more than $44,000 worth of property from businesses and a home.

Luke Heginbotham began his string of offences in March 2021 where he smashed the glass door of a cafe at Birtinya and stole $6500 in cash.

He then took $16,000 in jewellery from a house in Wurtulla, none of which was recovered.

Heginbotham also stole two motorbikes and a trailer from properties around the Sunshine Coast and was seen riding one of the motorbikes, the Maroochydore District Court was told.

The 40-year-old also stole a mobile phone, number plates and an electric bike, and broke into a butcher and grocer at Nambour by smashing the glass doors, but didn’t take anything.

Judge Glen Cash noted he targeted a hair salon at Nambour where he took property and smashed a mirror, totalling a loss of $20,000.

When police found Heginbotham he had 3g marijuana, 28 valium tablets and a syringe on him.

CCTV footage, fingerprints and blood on glass were used to link the father of one to the crimes, which totalled $44.766 worth of stolen property and an additional $10,682 in damages.

Judge Cash noted Heginbotham’s extensive history was littered with drug and dishonesty offences, saying there was no other way of describing him than a criminal and a drug addict.

“You’ve now spent 40 years of your life effectively wasting your time on this planet,” Judge Cash said.

Defence barrister Nathan Turner said his client attended school until Year 8 before developing a serious issue with drugs.

“He became a heroin addict at age 14 and later became addicted to the drug ice,” he said.

Mr Turner said Heginbotham had suffered the tragic loss of his own father and an unborn child and turned to offending because he was in need of money.

“None of the offending involved physical or personal violence to others or involved weapons,” he said.

Heginbotham pleaded guilty to 22 offences including four counts of breaking and entering premises and stealing, two counts attempted entering premises with intent to commit indictable offence, one count burglary and stealing, two counts of stealing, two counts of receiving tainted property, unlawfully using a motor vehicle and two counts of wilful damage.

He was sentenced to five years’ jail and will be eligible for parole on October 25, 2023.