Brandon Brett: Mickelham thief pleads guilty over stolen wedding dress, excavator

A Mickelham thief stole a wedding dress, beer and an excavator in a crime spree in Melbourne’s north.

A suburban thief stole a wedding dress and a 1.7 tonne excavator during a brazen crime spree to feed his drug habit.

Brandon Brett, 26, of Mickleham, faced the Heidelberg Magistrates Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to a string of stealing, deception and property offences which began with the theft of a woman’s wedding dress from the boot of her car at Heidelberg in May.

The court heard Brett’s victim tracked down her stolen dress being advertised for sale on Gumtree in the days after it was stolen.

The bride-to-be reported the theft and the Gumtree ad to local police, who raided Brett’s house a week later, where they found him hiding under a bed.

Brett told investigators he had purchased the dress from an unknown man, because he “needed a wedding dress”.

A bride-to-be found her stolen wedding dress for sale on Gumtree. Picture: Supplied

He was granted police bail, but was later caught driving disqualified, and using a stolen credit card to buy a $52 carton of Coronas form a bottle shop in the northern suburbs.

Brett and a co-offender also made off with a 1.7 tonne excavator by unhitching the trailer it was on, and towing it away in a Toyota van.

When police later searched through Brett’s phone, it revealed he was trying to find a buyer for it.

When questioned about another stolen car found at his house, he told police: “I don’t remember, I must have been cooked”.

Brett also told police “some c**t” must have left stolen property at his house.

He was finally refused bail in August after police found him wandering the streets with tools, which he planned to use for a break-in.

When asked why he was carrying torches, he told police: “I have an obsession with torches”.

When asked why he was carrying a knife, he said he “completely forgot” he had it in his bag.

Brett’s lawyer, Thomas Smedley, said jail time was the only appropriate sentence for his client, but asked for him to be sentenced to time served.

He said the “context” of his client’s offending was a relapse of his drug use.

Brett returns to court at a later date.