Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor blames kleptomania for stealing over $9000 in goods from businesses

A Townsville man who ‘brazenly’ stole over $9000 in goods from local businesses was believed to be suffering from kleptomania – an impulse control disorder resulting in an irresistible urge to steal.

Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor stole over $9,000 in goods from Townsville businesses . Picture: Supplied.

A man with “kleptomania” who stole more than $9000 in goods from Townsville businesses in a string of “utterly brazen” offences has been sent to jail.

A court has heard how between June and October, Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor, 28, stole over $1000 in goods from Woolworths twice, $1271 worth from Sunglasses Hut, over $1000 from JB Hi-Fi, $150 from Myer, $129 from Rivers, and nearly $2000 worth of goods from Spotlight.

Police prosecutor Mark Fenlon said Bray-Pryor cost local businesses a total of $9366.89, during “some utterly brazen” offending where it wasn’t “need over greed”.

Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor stole over $9,000 in goods from Townsville businesses. Picture: Supplied.

On one occasion, he assaulted a security guard with an emergency door when approached.

On October 6, Bray-Pryor drove his vehicle into the Townsville Correctional Facility and after being boxed in by corrections officers, he told police that he “took a wrong turn” when trying to find the crematorium, despite previously being an inmate at the prison.

Bray-Pryor appeared via videolink in the Townsville Magistrates Court on October 26, pleading guilty to 14 counts of stealing after a previous conviction, two counts of fare evasion, unlawfully entering a corrective services facility, common assault, and driving without a licence (SPER suspended).

Mr Fenlon said Bray-Pryor’s offending was aggravated by 16 previous stealing charges.

To deter this behaviour, he called for a 15-18 month period of imprisonment.

Defence lawyer Phil Rennick conceded that imprisonment for about 15 months was necessary.

Prior to being remanded in custody, Bray-Pryor sought professional assistance for a diagnosis regarding his impulses to steal.

Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor was believed to be suffering from kleptomania. Picture: Supplied.

“(His mother) believes that he’s a kleptomaniac, in a sense that he’d steal and it was something to do with his impulse control disorder,” Mr Rennick said.

“He is a person that will benefit with guidance once released into the community if he gets help and it is a legitimate mental health issue, and that’s yet to be determined through a diagnosis.”

Magistrate Richard Lehmann said it was largely “brazen offending” how Bray-Pryor stole nearly $10,000 worth of goods from various shops around Townsville.

He acknowledged the potential for a mental health issue to explain the offending.

“Quite clearly you have the impulse to steal things”, he said, but added that it required a diagnosis.

Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor pleaded guilty to 14 counts of stealing after a previous conviction, two counts of fare evasion, unlawfully entering a corrective services facility, common assault, and driving without a licence (SPER suspended). Picture: Supplied.

The magistrate said the substantial number of dishonesty offences in his seven page criminal history was a “severely aggravating factor”, where he hadn’t been deterred by jail sentences.

“You need to stop stealing because you’re going to start spending years in custody, not months,” he warned.

Allowing for 11 days served in pre-sentence custody, Bray-Pryor was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, with a parole release date set for April 14, 2023.

He was also disqualified from driving for one month, with convictions recorded.

Originally published as Corey Raymond Bray-Pryor blames kleptomania for stealing over $9000 in goods from businesses