Peter Oldham was on an “ice bender” when he broke into the Townsville RAAF base

A lawyer has suggested the Townsville RAAF base should upgrade its security after his client was jailed for breaking in.

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A TOWNSVILLE lawyer has suggested security at the Garbutt RAAF base should be upgraded after his client was jailed for breaking in.

Peter James Oldham broke into the base twice between April 17 and 18 and stole a uniform, car and military ID.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to 11 charges in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The charges were three counts of enter premises, four counts of trespass on commonwealth land, three counts of unlawful use of a vehicle and one count of obtain another entity’s identity information for the purpose of committing an offence.

Peter James Oldham was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment after he broke into the Townsville RAAF base and stole a number of cars. Photo: Facebook.

Police prosecutor Anita Page said Oldham unlawfully accessed the base before stealing a set of car keys from a bathroom in the women’s quarters of the facility before stealing a gold coloured Volkswagen from a car park.

Police located the vehicle running but unattended at The Strand at 1.30am before three males walked out of a unit complex across the road and told them they were going for a swim in the rock pool.

Ms Page said two of the men returned and told police they did not know the third male, identified to be Oldham, and he had stolen a wallet from them when they let him into their unit which he returned to them when they “challenged him”.

Ms Page said Oldham claimed no knowledge of the stolen vehicle and appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance.

Between 2am and 3am on April 18 Oldham again broke into the base, on this occasion the male quarters.

The court heard he accessed a locker room and “rummaged” through several lockers before stealing a gym bag that contained the victim’s car keys and various clothes items including a uniform and military ID that he later tried to use to again gain entry.

Oldham then went to a carpark and stole another vehicle that was later found crashed on Ingham Road at Garbutt shortly after he again attempted to gain entry to the base.

“All of the stolen property was located in the stolen vehicle,” Ms Page said.

In court, Oldham’s lawyer Michael O’Dea said his client “exposed vulnerabilities in the RAAF security”.

Mr O’Dea said Oldham was on an “ice bender” when committing the offences and had “been of the rails since 2018”.

Mr O’Dea said the father of one’s offending was “bizarre” and demonstrated the “detrimental effects of ice”.

In sentencing, Magistrate Ken Taylor said Oldham had caused considerable concern to a number of people and said his offending called for a period of imprisonment.

Mr Taylor handed down a head sentence of 15-months imprisonment and fined Oldham $150 for each of the four counts of trespass on Commonwealth land.

Pre-sentence custody of 37 days was declared and Oldham will be eligible for parole on September 18.

Originally published as Peter Oldham was on an “ice bender” when he broke into the Townsville RAAF base