Corio man Christopher Burr’s $700 pokies machine behind alleged theft of taxi
A Corio man said he had only 10 minutes to get back to a pokies machine that had $700 on it when he allegedly stole a taxi.
Geelong
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A Corio man who allegedly stole a taxi as its driver tried to boot him out said he was in a rush because he had $700 on a poker machine.
Christopher Burr, 34, told a court he won the money and put a reserve on the machine so he could go home and get more cash to keep playing.
He allegedly told the taxi driver he had just 10 minutes to rush home and back to the Gateway Hotel or he would lose the machine.
Mr Burr was denied bail in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday and will return to court to face theft and drug charges at a later date.
The court heard Mr Burr allegedly argued with the taxi driver in front of the hotel about payment issues.
Police told the court the driver tried to convince Mr Burr to leave the car and, when this failed, he got out and started to walk around to the passenger side to force Mr Burr out.
As he did, Mr Burr allegedly jumped into the drivers’ seat and fled, leaving the driver at the front of the hotel.
Officers later found him in Corio and placed him under arrest.
The car was allegedly found to have been “substantially” damaged with “physical force to interfere with the starting mechanisms”.
Mr Burr was also allegedly found with methamphetamine.
His defence lawyer, Gemma McInerney, said Mr Burr “was at the pokies, he had some wins, had some money in the machine, he wanted to keep going (and) he put a reserve on the machine” when he had allegedly attempted to ask the taxi driver to take him home.
Ms McInerney said he did not have the money for the taxi and allegedly tried to explain he would get money at home for the driver.
“He said I need to bolt home because I can only reserve this machine for 10 minutes. (He asked) to drive me home, get the money and bring me back to the hotel,” Ms McInerney said.
The court heard Mr Burr has significant priors and has been given a number of opportunities in the past but has continuously breached court orders and failed to appear in court on at least 10 occasions.
Prosecution submitted with this prior history, “I don’t think it’s surprising he’s stealing a motor vehicle, in conjunction with allegations of drugs and criminal history”.
In denying Mr Burr bail, Magistrate Ann McGarvie said he is “absolutely in my view an unacceptable risk”.
“He’s an unacceptable risk of continuing to offend and, no matter the circumstances of the theft, he has put a taxi drivers’ life and a vehicle at risk because the car … was damaged,” Ms McGarvie said.
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