Nathan Munro: Bacchus Marsh man steals from East Melbourne worksite

A Bacchus Marsh demolition worker stole nearly $7000 of equipment from an East Melbourne site then escaped down a fire escape and hid in the bushes.

A Bacchus Marsh employee stole nearly $7000 of construction equipment from an East Melbourne worksite and a $9000 kitchen flat pack from an undeveloped Bacchus Marsh home.

Nathan John Munro, 46, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The court heard Munro worked for a company demolishing the old NAB headquarters on Victoria Parade, East Melbourne in early 2020.

On the evening of May 9, Munro and a co-accused arrived at the closed site in a rental truck, and Munro used work keys to enter.

Concerned witnesses called Triple-0 when they saw people inside with torches, but when police arrived they were unable to get access to the sixth level of the workplace where the light was visible.

Munro tried to leave the site undetected when he realised police were there, so he exited down a fire escape and hid behind a bush until the officers left.

This was captured on CCTV from a nearby address.

The co-accused hid a tool bag nearby, which was retrieved in the morning.

Over the next few days, the two men returned to the worksite with trailers.

A site audit later identified that battery packs, charging stations, extension leads, a roofer’s harness kit, power boards, portable lights, copper cabling, and copper battery and cable links were missing.

The value of the stolen goods was $6981.82.

Munro was fired when another worker saw the CCTV footage of the burglary.

When police executed a search warrant at Munro’s residence, they seized from him a mobile phone, sweatshirt, work boots, cannabis, hashish, and Panadeine Forte prescribed to someone of another name.

Photos were found on the phone of copper cabling which had a likeness to that found missing from the Victoria Parade site.

In late May, police saw Munro driving in Melton South, and when they spoke to him he was unable to provide a driver’s licence.

He said he was aware he was disqualified, but not aware the car he was driving was unregistered.

Between late February and early March 2021, Munro attended a house under construction in Bacchus Marsh and stole an uninstalled flatpack kitchen and a box containing silicone glue, sandpaper, and plastic hooks, together worth $9000.

The site manager of the construction site informed police he saw trolley tracks heading from the house.

When police followed them, they saw cannabis in the backyard.

Later executing a warrant at the address, they found cannabis, the flatpack kitchen, and the box.

Munro went to the police station by appointment and denied stealing the kitchen flatpack and other items.

In court, Munro pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, two counts of theft, two counts of possessing cannabis, one count of possessing a drug of dependence, one count of driving while his authorisation was suspended, one count of using an unregistered motor vehicle, and one count of cultivating a narcotic plant.

He was ordered to pay compensation of $6981.82 and received an 18-month community correction order.