Port Kembla petrol pincher Sharni Mortensen’s brazen $1000 heist

A red P-plater has copped her punishment for stealing more than $1000 worth of petrol across the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Mid North Coast.

A Port Kembla mother-of-two who stole more than $1000 in fuel has been hit with a custodial sentence for her petrol-pinching ways.

Sharni Leigh Mortensen, 29, appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday following previous guilty pleas to 10 counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception, two counts of driving while suspended and two counts of failing to appear in court.

Documents tendered to the court said service stations in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and the Mid North Coast were victims of the red P-plater‘s petrol pilfering which took place over five months between December, 2021, and April this year.

The first incident occurred in mid December at the Woolworths service station in Bull when Mortensen pumped $100 worth of petrol into her grey 2006 Holden Commodore before doing a runner.

Sharni Mortensen’s lawyer said her crimes were motivated by multiple factors. Picture: Facebook

CCTV was handed over to police and five days later Mortensen was pulled over as she was leaving a petrol station in Russell Vale about 1pm.

Three weeks later, Mortensen was recorded again on CCTV stealing $113 in fuel from Enhance in Port Kembla.

There was a lull in the woman’s petrol poaching before she was caught on CCTV stealing from five different petrol stations in March.

The Woolworths service station in Bulli was Sharni Mortensen's first victim.

Mortensen stole $110 worth of fuel from Caltex in Narellan on March 4 and four days later took the same amount from Ampol in Unanderra.

Three days after that Mortensen was 500km north in Port Macquarie where she knocked off $120 of fuel from a Mobil service station and the very next day she was back in the Illawarra, stealing $113 in petrol from Caltex in West Wollongong.

Mortensen’s mad March concluded on Thursday the 17th when at the Petrol Petroleum in Fairy Meadow she drove off without paying for $103 in fuel.

Sharni Mortensen stole a total of $1004.05 in petrol. Picture: Facebook

Police approached Mortensen twice in March where she admitted she was responsible for the crimes and told them, “I don’t have any money” and “Yeah sorry, I’m going through a tough period”.

However, in mid April, Mortensen was at it again, pouring in $125 worth of V-Power 98 Unleaded from the Shell service station in Unanderra.

Mortensen, on the same day, was issued a three-month driving suspension from Campbelltown police for her repeated offending, but that did not deter her as she was seen stealing $40 worth of petrol from Coles Express in Wollongong just over a week later.

All up, Mortensen stole $1004.05 in petrol.

Sharni Leigh Mortensen has pleaded guilty to 10 charges relating to stealing petrol across Wollongong, the Southern Highlands and the Mid North Coast. Picture: Facebook

On Saturday, April 30, police pulled over Mortensen in Goulburn where officers asked about her most recent “fail to pay” which she admitted, telling police she was expecting a court attendance notice.

At 11.50pm on Friday, May 6, police stopped Mortensen in North Wollongong for a random breath test and she told them, “I know why you’ve stopped me, because I am suspended”.

Mortensen was expected to attend court to face the plethora of charges in Campbelltown and Wollongong in May, however, she failed to appear both times.

In court on Tuesday, Mortensen’s lawyer Jordan Mechan said her crimes were motivated by a desire to see her children on the Mid North Coast.

Mr Mechan said there were other factors, including moving house, which required her to “do a lot of driving back and forth”.

The court also heard Mortensen had been hired at a cash-in-hand cleaner, but she was not paid initially despite needing petrol to drive to the requisite locations.

Mr Mechan described the payment arrangement as “a bit dodgy”, but told Magistrate Claire Girotto his client was ”trying to do the right thing”.

Ms Girotto placed Mortensen on a 12-month community corrections order for the first three incidents and an eight-month intensive corrections order – a custodial sentence served in the community – for the final seven.

Ms Girotto told Mortensen “You won’t need to pay for petrol because you can’t drive” before disqualifying her from getting behind the wheel for six months and handing her another 12-month community corrections order to be served at the same time.

Ms Girotto also ordered Mortensen to complete 100 hours of community service and pay back all the service stations she had stolen from.