Andrew Bruce: Lower Templestowe sentenced after returning stolen items to Coles | crime

A thief, who went around “very smartly” ripping off people, including a major supermarket, blamed seclusion for his slide into crime.

Picture: David Crosling

A “smart” Lower Templestowe crook, who found himself in the hands of “lovely” jail staff, claims loneliness drove him to crime.

Andrew Bruce landed himself in custody for seven days before he pleaded guilty to a slew of theft, dishonestly and drug charges at the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, June 16.

Court documents reveal Bruce conned several Coles supermarkets across Melbourne into refunding items stolen from its stores – including batteries, dishwasher tablets, light bulbs, Le Tan skincare, coffee and vitamins.

Bruce stole and then returned the items, without receipts, to supermarkets across Melbourne including in Lilydale, Chirnside Park, Eastland, Mitcham, Westfield Knox, Vermont South and Doncaster East, Camberwell, Hawthorn, and Bundoora.

But his crimes weren’t limited to supermarkets – he also submitted false timesheets to a former employer, for periods worked after he had left in August 2017.

According to court documents, Bruce submitted timesheets for August 5 to 12, despite leaving the job on August 1, and was overpaid $2653.

It also turned out Bruce had copied the supervisor’s signature without their knowledge.

Court documents also reveal Bruce used a fake ID – a Queensland driver’s licence under the name Niall Quigley – which he used to steal a caged trailer worth $2640.

Bruce was arrested on June 9 after police searched a Preston storage unit he was living in, seizing methylamphetamine and batteries

The crook’s Legal Aid lawyer Dodie Roden pushed for a community corrections order and told the magistrate, Bruce had a limited criminal history.

Magistrate Anthony Parsons said the reports suggested Bruce had been using illegal drugs for a long time – but specifically in the past six years.

Mr Parsons said the directions order would help shine a light on the psychological reasons why Bruce used drugs.

“Inevitably it’s pain,” Mr Parsons said.

“Everyone who marches through this court with a drug dependence doesn’t do it because they want to graduate with a habit, they do it because they’re medicating some pain.”

He said Bruce needed to focus on building up approaches that did not allow him to “fall backwards”.

“Once you’re in the hands of methamphetamine you go around, very smartly, ripping off people,” Mr Parsons said.

“You’re not an unintelligent person. You do it in a way that you’ve been able to get away with for a long time.”

“But it’s a one-way street. Sooner or later you end up where you’ve been for the last week (jail).”

Bruce said custody had been “quite a reality check” and while the staff were “lovely” it wasn’t somewhere he was interested in being in again.

“I’m quite disappointed with myself … that I’ve got to this point,” he said.

“And I hope to never see you again, in the nicest way possible.”

Bruce said his drug use had been patchy, and while he didn’t want to give excuses, a long-term relationship had come to an end.

“The world just seemed to get on top of me,” he said.

Bruce said his drug use was driven by loneliness.

“It sounds a bit pathetic … I fell out of work the last couple of months and that’s been hard, the Covid thing’s been hard,” he said.

“And my wife went to NSW during Covid restrictions last year and everything’s been pretty hard, not that, that’s an excuse but it’s a reason.”

He said he’s taking ownership of what he’s done and he is moving back in with his mother.

Bruce said he has a crane job lined up in Footscray when restrictions eased.

Mr Parsons convicted and sentenced Bruce to a 12-month community corrections order.