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Chad Castles pleads guilty to break ins at Caloundra, e-scooter theft at Little Mountain

A man has gone on a bizarre crime spree which led to him breaking into a Salvos and pawning a stolen e-scooter.

Chad Castles faced Caloundra Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Chad Castles faced Caloundra Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

A Bundaberg man has admitted to a slew of petty crimes which he says were fuelled by his desire to buy drugs.

Chad Castles told police he did “stupid things” due to his drug habit which fuelled some of his crimes in October and November last year.

The 41-year-old represented himself in Caloundra Magistrates Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to 10 charges including enter dwelling, fraud and driving disqualified. He also admitted to four charges of breaching bail.

Police prosecutor Michael Quirk said some of Castles’ offences involved breaking into the Salvation Army at Little Mountain where he damaged a window. Nothing was stolen.

The court heard Castles was seen by a building inspector who visited a vacant property at Pelican Waters, where he walked in on a Holden Commodore ute driving out of the property’s garage.

Inside, the witness found the timber door lock was broken and items inside were tampered with, where it looked like someone was living in the empty house.

Castles was also involved in an attempted enter dwelling offence where he was captured on security cameras walking around the side of another Pelican Waters property after jumping the fence.

Castles leaving court.
Castles leaving court.

Mr Quirk said Castles tried to open a door at the property before he left. He then returned two hours later to continue to scope out the property.

He took toilet paper and a cushion before leaving.

The prosecutor said the most serious offence occurred at Little Mountain where Castles went into the victim’s garage and stole an e-scooter. He was seen riding away on the light vehicle in CCTV.

He later took this to Cash Converters at Caloundra and sold it for $500.

Castles went to the Caloundra Police Station on November 12 where he spoke to Property Crime Squad detectives and made admissions to doing “stupid things” due to his drug habit.

Mr Quirk said the Bundaberg man should be given a jail sentence as he was committing crimes to feed his drug habit. He also asked Castles to pay back $1450 in total restitution to the victims.

The 41-year-old, who represented himself in court on Tuesday, was apologetic for his spree and had stopped using drugs.
“I pulled me head in,” Castles told magistrate Catherine Benson, and said he had attended counselling sessions for his drug problem.

Ms Benson opted not to order the 41-year-old to serve actual time, but said he would be placed on a 12-month intensive corrections order. This meant he would stay in the community to serve his jail sentence.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years, ordered to pay back restitution, and convicted.

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/police-courts/chad-castles-pleads-guilty-to-break-ins-at-caloundra-escooter-theft-at-little-mountain/news-story/b4f9c5a2e80b4c5d871343cfb11aa38e