Jesse Mallinder: Six months’ jail for thief who based Nathan Jones father

A thug who belted the father of former Melbourne star Nathan Jones is in trouble again, facing court on a stack of charges.

Jesse Mallinder has been sentenced to six months' jail for various theft offences since 2019. Picture: Facebook

A man who stole a $130,000 BMW and later carried out a string of burglaries in Melbourne’s east had relapsed on ice at the time of his offending, a court has heard.

Jesse Mallinder will remain behind bars for roughly two months after he was sentenced in Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Mallinder pleaded guilty to more than 30 charges stemming from various incidents since 2019 during a mention hearing on February 22.

It’s not the first time Mallinder’s name has appeared in the media over his behaviour.

In 2012, he pleaded guilty in the County Court to one charge of intentionally causing injury to Bradley Jones, the father of former Demon’s star Nathan Jones.

Prosecutors and Magistrate Marc Sargent struck out 10 of the charges at Tuesday’s sentencing.

Court documents showed Mallinder’s offending began in May 2019 when he stole a $130,000 BMW in Montrose, followed by a Holden Colorado in Mornington later that month.

The BMW was later recovered by police, while the Holden was found when officers raided Mallinder’s home in Park Orchards in early June.

Later that month, he was arrested after officers raided another Park Orchards address, and found a stolen Apple computer and three rounds of ammunition.

In August 2020, Mallinder was involved in an aggravated burglary at a home in Ajax Ct, Lilydale, stealing a wallet, a drone and a rare coin collection.

He was also found to be in possession of methamphetamines and a “controlled weapon” during the incident.

Earlier that month, in a separate incident in Montrose, he was caught in possession of drugs including cannabis and ecstasy.

In September that year, he was charged for his involvement in dealing with stolen items in Montrose, namely prescription medication, medical kits and a credit card, and in possession of knuckle dusters.

On September 30, 2021, a victim reported his wallet had been stolen and officers found Mallinder had used the victim’s credit card to buy alcohol from a Celebrations bottle shop in Ringwood.

Maroondah and Manningham officers arrested him at an address in Ringwood in late October during a search warrant.

He had already served 123 days pre-detention before his appearance from custody on Tuesday.

At the February 22 hearing, Mr Mallinder’s defence lawyer, Damian McNally, said his client “credits his offending to relapsing to methamphetamine”.

He said Mr Mallinder had shown remorse and “appears to be genuinely motivated to address the issues under the offending”.

The court also received a character reference from Mr Mallinder’s partner, who said his nine-year-old daughter was a leading motivation for him wanting to rebuild his life and not return to jail.

At Tuesday’s sentencing, Mr McNally said his client had a “desire to maintain his abstinence” and a “genuine motivation to do everything required on any order imposed”, after Mallinder was initially assessed as not suitable for a community corrections order.

Mr Sargent told Mallinder he would have doubled his sentence if he had not pleaded guilty.

He sentenced Mallinder to six months’ jail, including time already served, paving the way for Mallinder to be released in early May.

Mr Sargent also sentenced Mallinder to a 12-month community corrections order and ordered he be assessed for treatment for drug use, mental health and offending behaviour programs.