Merewether: Glenn Broom jailed for stealing war medals, vintage rugby balls
A drug addict has been sentenced after he broke into a home being renovated in Newcastle and stole numerous valuable items. He also left an important clue on a beer can that led to his arrest.
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A drug addict who went on a stealing spree - which included valuable World War II medals and a $1000 bottle of red wine - got caught by police after his DNA was found on a beer can.
While the owners were away, Glenn Neal Broom, 50, broke into a house which was being renovated on Frederick St at Merewether on January 17.
He forced open a garage window at the two-storey, four-bedroom home and ransacked every room, emptied out cupboards and drawers and spilt nail polish all over the floor.
Upstairs, Broom stole a number of valuable and sentimental items which included a custom made frame containing the owner’s grandfather’s replica World War II medals and photographs, a $1000 bottle of Penfolds Grange Hermitage red wine and two vintage rugby balls of the Wallabies and All Blacks.
The 50-year-old also stole a lawnmower, sports bag, wheelie bins and numerous expensive tools which all added up to more than $8000.
Police facts stated while he was there, he drunk a can of beer which would later help police track him down after they took a swab and gathered his DNA.
Between June last year and January, Broom was charged with stealing various items at different locations worth thousands of dollars including tools, fishing reels and a mountain bike.
He was also charged with trying to sell a number of those stolen goods at different pawn shops across the Hunter.
He was finally arrested on February 4 while working on a building site at the University of Newcastle in Warabrook.
In Newcastle Local Court on Monday, Broom’s solicitor Martin Vazquez admitted his client was on an Intensive Corrections Order (ICO) and Community Corrections orders (CCOs) at the time of the offences but had a “substantial drug problem”.
Magistrate Sharon Crews revoked all his CCO’s and handed down an aggregate sentence of 18 months with a non parole period of nine months.
She also ordered all items be returned to the owner.