Karl Humphries, Adam Davis deny stealing excavator from Burradoo building site

Police allege they caught two men in the act of stealing a $30,000 excavator after they broke into a Southern Highlands building site and drove off in the 1.7 tonne machine.

Police allege they caught two men in the act of stealing a $32,000 excavator from a building site in Burradoo while both men were on parole for previous break and enter offences.

Karl Humphries, 34, and Adam Mitchell Davis, 30, appeared in Picton Court via audio visual link on Thursday after being charged with entering a building site with the intent of committing an indictable offence, taking and driving conveyance without the consent of the owner, possessing housebreaking and vehicle break in tools, destruction of property, and committing an indictable crime with a previous conviction.

Police allege the two men used housebreaking tools to break into a residential building site and steal a valuable 1.7 tonne excavator about 9pm on Wednesday night.

Karl Humphries and Adam Mitchell Davis are charged with breaking into a building site in Burradoo to steal an excavator.

According to police allegations, Mr Humphries and Mr Davis then used tools to break into the excavator, which belongs to a Wollongong plumbing company, before they drove away from the scene.

According to police allegations, the two men also destroyed a paddock belonging to the plumbing company.

Police allege they caught the men in the process of stealing the excavator, which the court heard is worth $32,000.

At the time of the alleged theft, both Mr Humphries and Mr Davis were serving sentences for previous convictions relating to aggravated break and enter offences.

Mr Humphries’s lawyer told the court his client had been contacted by a man called ‘Tim’ who approached him for a job and asked him to move an excavator. He didn’t know how to drive an excavator, so the court heard he enlisted Mr Davis to do the driving for $100.

The two accused men appeared via audio visual link in Picton Court House on January 20. Picture: Adelaide Lang

The court heard Mr Davis, a married father-of-three, works for a warehousing company and was unaware the men didn’t have the owner’s permission to move the excavator.

Magistrate Mark Douglass said there was obviously an element of planning to the alleged offence.

“This is not knocking off a saw from Bunnings. This is premeditated,” he said.

“Theft of things off building sites is prevalent and there needs to be a strong stance taken by police and the court. There is a real impact on hard working members of the community.”

Despite the prosecution’s argument there were no conditions that could mitigate the risk of the two men reoffending, Mr Davis was granted bail. He is prohibited from entering the Moss Vale area or contacting Mr Humphries and must report daily to police and reside at his Heckenberg home.

However, Mr Humphries’s application for bail to care for his ill father was denied. Magistrate Douglass determined his “extensive record including matters of violence” indicated the Bargo resident was likely to commit further crimes on bail.

Both Mr Humphries and Mr Davis have entered pleas of not guilty to all charges.

The matter will return to Picton court on February 22.