Larry Pucci found guilty of raiding Moonee Marketplace in Mid North Coast crime spree
A jury deliberated for less than 24 hours before finding an Alstonville man guilty of an after-hours shopping centre crime spree targeting nine premises north of Coffs Harbour.
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A man who claimed to be framed by police has been found guilty of a spate of burglaries at a shopping complex on the Mid North Coast more than four years on.
Larry Enrico Pucci sat and shook his head as the jury read their guilty verdict to 11 charges bringing the two-week trial at Coffs Harbour District Court to an end on Tuesday.
The jury found Pucci guilty of seven counts of break and enter while armed with an offensive weapon, two counts of theft and two counts of entering a building with intent to commit an indictable offence.
The 40-year-old Alstonville man pursued the trial without a lawyer where he maintained his innocence, claiming he had been framed by police.
Crown prosecutor David Morters argued forensic evidence linked Pucci to the crimes, namely a glove found the next day by a dog walker on a Sapphire Beach Headland less than 2km from the scene of the crime – Moonee Marketplace, a short drive north of Coffs Harbour.
During his defence Pucci claimed police misconduct suggesting his DNA had been “lifted” and “planted” in the gloves.
Mr Morters presented what was described as circumstantial evidence to the jury which he argued put Pucci in the vicinity of the crimes committed in the early hours of September 14, 2020.
The court was shown CCTV footage of the crimes and heard audio files police claimed were Pucci ordering a taxi to a Sapphire Beach intersection, approximately three and half miles from the marketplace the day before the overnight crimes occurred.
Pucci had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
It took the jury less than 24 hours to reach their verdict.
Pucci was taken into custody immediately but still claimed he was set-up and that his defence relied upon a key police witness who failed to show.
As he was handcuffed and led away he called the cops “f--king putrid”.
“I had evidence and youse set me up,” he said.
He is set to appear again on February 3, 2025, for sentencing.
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