Daniel Winning granted bail after stealing more than $60k in booze from various Dan Murphy’s stores

A Collingwood crook who stole more than $60,000 worth of luxury booze told cops he stole because shop staff “looked at him like a thief”.

Daniel Winning was busted by cops after stealing more than $60,000 in booze from Dan Murphy’s stores across Melbourne.

A Collingwood vagrant who pilfered more than $60,000 worth of expensive booze told cops he stole because shop staff “looked at him like a thief”.

Daniel Winning, 30, applied for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on January 3 after pleading guilty to numerous counts of shop theft after cops busted him over “high end whisky thefts” spanning across Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

The court heard Winning had stolen more than $63,000 in liquor from Dan Murphy’s stores in Bulleen, Alphington, Prahran, Malvern and Forest Hill over 12 months in 2024.

CCTV footage depicts the shameless thief in every incident, even stealing while being bailed on other criminal matters.

Police searched his Collingwood council flat on January 2, where they arrested Winning after he tried to hide under one of the beds.

Winning told cops he stole because staff “make him feel like a thief”.

He later told cops if he’d “been in the living room” at the time of the police search, he would have “jumped out the window to avoid capture”.

Winning’s flat was on the third storey of his building, which the police informant described as “disgusting”.

“There’s cockroaches running everywhere and dirty needles all over the floor,” the court heard.

“It’s not a comfortable living environment and not an appropriate place to get better.”

Winning was characterised as having a “significant heroin habit” and was “notoriously difficult to find”.

He identified himself on the CCTV footage, telling police he “was made to feel like a thief, so he stole”.

Police opposed bail, saying the “astronomical value” of the thefts demonstrated he had “no intention of slowing down”.

“It’s not like he’s stealing a couple of Mars Bars, it’s a huge amount (of liquor),” the court was told.

Magistrate Abigail Burchill said Dan Murphy’s staff assuming Winning was a thief was “hardly anything for him to take offence to”.

“You say you don’t like them treating you like a thief, when that’s exactly what you’re doing,” she said.

“I hope you understand how much trouble you’re in.”

Ms Burchill released him on bail, taking into account his Aboriginal heritage and that both his parents were suffering from cancer.

“I’m going out on a limb to grant you bail, please don’t let me down,” she said.

Winning was banned from attending any Dan Murphy’s store and will return to court for sentencing on a later date.