Paula Philp tears up after pleading guilty to spate of thefts and burglaries across Mildura

A Mildura crook has burst into tears after pleading guilty to a spate of burglaries across the region, including one where a mum was assaulted in front of her two children.

Philp pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including an aggravated burgalry where a mother was asaultred in front of her children. Picture: Generic

A Mildura crook has burst into tears in the courtroom after she was sentenced for a range of offences, including an aggravated burglary where a mother was assaulted in front of her kids.

Paula Philp, 31, fronted Mildura Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to several charges including shop theft, theft of a bicycle, and aggravated burglary.

The court heard on May 28, 2023 Philp and her co-accused arrived at the victim’s Mildura address on Eighth St.

While Philp and her co-accused were at the address, the occupant of the house was assaulted in front of her two young children by one of Philp’s co-accused.

During the burgalry, Philp stole a Guess handbag and $80 cash.

Philp also committed several thefts across various locations in Mildura, including Mallee Bearings, Harvey Norman, and KFC.

Paula Philp was sentenced to four and a half months behind bars after a spate of terrifying burglaries and thefts across Mildura. Picture: Facebook

In July 2023, Philp and a co-accused used a stolen credit card to purchase goods valued over $900

The court heard she stole a $3000 bike from outside a Woolworths in November 2024, before stealing laptops and $8000 worth of building materials from a construction site a few months later.

Philp was also involved in a shop theft at Price Attack at Mildura Central with a co-accused in November 2024.

Her lawyer Bert Hilton-Wood said her client had meth and cannabis addictions, with a lot of the offending fuelling her drug addiction.

A lot of Philp’s offending occurred while she was supposed to be complying with a community corrections order (CCO).

Philp received a total sentence of four and a half months for the sum of her offending

“Taking aside the burglaries, a lot of the offending is lower end opportunistic offending,” Mr Hilton Wood said.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan ruled out the possibility of a combination sentence and said Philp would have received an eight-month sentence had it not been for her guilty plea.

“Quite frankly, a combination sentence is not an option when it comes to Ms Philp. I am not going to impose a crushing sentence, although you might not think that,” Mr Coghlan said to Philp.

She received a total sentence of four and a half months behind bars for her offending.

Philip put her head in her hands and started wailing as her sentence was read out.

With 14 days reckoned as time served, Philp can expect to be released in mid-June.