Michael Burton used Bendigo business Bedford Designs to sell steel he stole from V/line

A Bendigo thief busted using his business to sell steel plundered from a V/line storage yard for $127k, also stole from Bunnings stores in a series of sophisticated heists.

Michael Burton outside Bendigo Magistrates' Court has been charged with stealing an "enormous" amount of steal from a V/line storage yard at Inglewood.

A Bendigo man ripped off $40,000 worth of stock from Bunnings and sold tonnes of steel he  stole for $127,000 through his local business in a series of sophisticated heists with a crew of crims.

Michael Burton, 38, of Maiden Gully, was jailed for a minimum of months after pleaded guilty on Tuesday at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court t0 more than 100 theft-related offences.

Burton was busted stealing an “enormous” amount of steel from a V/line storage yard in Inglewood alongside other crims from February to May 2023, when an employee caught them loading up steel railway sleepers into a truck.

Michael Burton stole several tonnes of steel from a V/line storage yard in Inglewood.

The thieves fled the scene, but the V/line worker was able to get a picture of the number plates on the truck that allowed police to track down Burton.

Burton used his Bendigo business Bedford Designs to sell dozens of tonnes of steel stolen from the V/line yard to scrappers for a profit of about $127,000.

The court heard Burton was on bail at the time of the steel heists on charges relating to a systematic shoplifting operation from Bunnings.

Burton was also jailed for stealing $40,000 worth of stock from multiple Bunnings stores in a series of sophisticated heists with a crew of other thieves.

Burton and associates used hire vehicles to remain undetected as they systematically knocked off items from several Bunnings stores.

The court heard the thieves hit Keysborough, Melton East, Sunshine, Port Melbourne, Altona, West Footscray, Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit and Caroline Springs Bunnings stores, among others.

Michael Burton stole $40,000 worth of merchandise from Bunnings in a sophisticated series of organised heists.

The defence asked for a deferral of sentence and good behaviour bond so Burton could undergo residential drug rehab for meth and GHB abuse that had fuelled much of his offending.

Police argued the “volume of crime” was “far too serious” for him not be jailed, and Burton had previously squandered several chances at community sentences by reoffending in similar ways.

Magistrate Russell Kelly said the offending was too serious for rehab alone, sentencing Burton to a head sentence of 18 months, with a non-parole period of 12 months.