Anthony William Mahoney pleads guilty to 31 offences in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court
A dad-of-two has pleaded guilty to 31 offences after he stole about $15,000 worth of property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Find out what sparked his spree.
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A dad-of-two who stole about $15,000 worth of goods while in a drug-induced spiral after a relationship breakdown has been sentenced to 19 months in jail.
Anthony William Mahoney, 30, of Beerwah faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on August 8, 2022.
He pleaded guilty to 31 offences committed between September, 2021 and June, 2022, including two counts of enter premises and commit stealing, two break and enter premises and commit stealing, one count of attempted enter premises with intent and one of enter premises with intent.
On November 15, 2021, Mahoney broke into a Beerwah business, smashed a glass counter and took property worth about $12,000.
On October 10, 2021, he entered Beerwah State School and took about $3100 of tools.
On December 21, 2021, he attempted to break into the Beerwah Hotel but an alarm sounded and he left.
He also attempted to steal a vehicle from a business in Chinchilla on September 3, 2021.
Mahoney appeared before the court from custody via video link.
Police prosecutor Stephen Potter said a term of prison was in the range for the offending.
Solicitor Katie Paterson said the father-of-two’s offending began in the midst of a serious drug addiction that caused his life to spiral out of control due to a relationship breakdown.
She said that in January, 2022, he was also forced to sell his home in Beerwah which led him to couchsurfing and living on the streets.
The solicitor said he had held a number of jobs since finishing at Kawana State College including landscaping and concrete cutting.
She said he was working as a concrete cutter when he was made redundant because of issues with his back, which he injured while playing rugby league.
Magistrate Christopher Callaghan said a number of the offences were committed while the defendant was on bail.
He said the most serious offences were enter premises offences.
“They’re offences that cost the community a lot,” Magistrate Callaghan said.
Mahoney was sentenced to 18 months in prison plus an extra month in jail for a failing to appear charge.
The magistrate said the defendant would be released after six months served.
He will be released on parole on December 4, 2022.