Rodney Diaper pleads guilty to Phillip Island Chocolate factory burglary

Blood left at the scene of a crime at one of Phillip Island’s major tourist attractions has come back to haunt this Mildura father.

Rodney Diaper pleaded guilty at Korumburra Magistrates’ Court. Picture: Penny Stephens.

A father who broke into a popular Phillip Island chocolate factory and stole cash, was caught seven years after the crime through DNA analysis.

Rodney Diaper pleaded guilty at Korumburra Magistrates’ Court on May 5, to theft and burglary charges.

The court heard Diaper smashed a window at Phillip Island Chocolate Factory between 12.20 and 5.45am on March 18, 2014.

The crook entered the factory through a broken window and stole $1000 in cash from the administration office.

Diaper, who lived in Cape Woolamai and was 28-years-old at the time of the offending, left the factory through the same window.

When police attended the scene, they found Diaper’s blood on the blinds which was identified by forensic evidence in 2020.

The damage of the window was valued at $200.

Diaper, who represented himself in court, said he worked full time as a plasterer in Mildura and has four children aged between seven and 14 years old.

Magistrate Jacinta Studham placed Diaper on an adjourned undertaking for 12 months with a special condition to pay $1200 in compensation.

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