Cameron Dingey jailed for theft and possessing drugs

A man leaving a house police were staking out after a tip-off was busted with his “stash” in an unusual — and often stinky — place because he was worried about getting robbed in Dandenong.

Cameron Dingey was busted with drugs in his shoe. Generic picture

A man who was caught carrying drugs hidden in the heel of his shoe said he put them there because he was worried about getting robbed in Dandenong.

Cameron Dingey, 33, pleaded guilty in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court on October 2 to a series of charges including theft and possessing drugs of dependence, namely Seroquel and Diazepam.

The court heard that on February 25, 2019 police saw Dingey leaving a Dandenong property they were watching after a tip-off about drug activity.

When police searched Dingey they found a small zip-lock bag containing a single yellow pill in his wallet and two zip-lock bags containing pills in the heel of his left shoe.

Dingey told police he didn’t have a prescription for the pills, which were Diazepam and Seroquel, and that he had hidden them “coz we’re in Dandenong”.

The court heard that between January 6 and April 23, 2020 when Dingey was homeless and crashing at someone’s house, he stole their Nintendo gameboy, an Instax digital camera and a Lenovo laptop computer.

He also stole personal papers belonging to the victim and family members including birth certificates, passport and driver’s licence.

On February 14, Dingey told his victim that he had arranged for someone to pick up her 1999 Landrover Discovery to fix it.

Instead he sold the vehicle, worth about $2000, for just $200 and pocketed the money.

In June he sold the Instax camera and Ninetendo Gameboy for $80.

On June 18, police were contacted about property belonging to the victim being stored in a garage by Dingey.

On June 29, police went to a motel where Dingey had been staying, where the manager handed them a laptop left by the accused as surety for unpaid rent.

Police identified the laptop as belonging to the victim.

Dingey’s lawyer Elise Anselma said his offending is at the “lower end of seriousness”.

“It’s not repeated in the sense that you’re not dealing with thefts in significant number,” Ms Anselma said.

“There’s only a few opportunities where he has committed these offences”.

Magistrate Simon Garnett said the offending was serious and Dingey’s “drug issues” led to him being dishonest.

“The offending was calculated,” Magistrate Garnett said.

“The victim showed you compassion and you rewarded her by stealing from her”.

Dingey was sentenced to three months in jail, fined $300 and his licence was disqualified for a period of six months.

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