Dion Peace sentenced over Mildura cafe Two Black Sheep break ins

A man put a rubbish bag over his head in the hope of not getting recognised when he broke into a Mildura cafe multiple times, leaving the owners on edge.

A Mildura man covered his head with a rubbish bag and used a concrete block to shatter the window of a local cafe to steal alcohol.

Dion Peace, 42, was convicted and sentenced in the Mildura Magistrates’ Court on Monday after he pleaded guilty to breaking into a local cafe and stealing alcohol.

The court heard that Peace broke into cafe Two Black Sheep twice in April to steal alcohol.

In a victim impact statement read aloud to the court, the owner of the cafe said that she and her wife, who is co-owner of the cafe, felt “violated” that Peace felt “comfortable enough” to enter and walk around the business.

“We provide catering which means we often have to stay back late at night to prepare food, we no longer feel safe to do this and can’t put staff in that position either,” the statement read.

The court also heard that the victims felt they “couldn’t enjoy” their honeymoon as they were “stressed and fearful” that it would happen again.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan said that he “didn’t understand” why Peace couldn’t just go to the shop and buy alcohol.

“Buy the alcohol and stay at home,” he said.

Magistrate Coghlan said that Peace’s actions had far reaching consequences for the business, with staff having to lose days of income while they fixed damage caused by him.

Peace was convicted and sentenced to five weeks in prison. He was also ordered to pay $2,700 in restitution.