Benjamin Brown-Kenyon: Sledgehammer thief smashed through southeast shops
A sledgehammer-happy thug who smashed his way through several shopfronts and stole charity donations has faced court.
South East
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A serial thief who used a sledgehammer to break into small businesses across the southeast ,stealing thousands’ of dollars worth of items has been jailed.
Benjamin Brown-Kenyon, 32, was jailed for four months in the Frankston Magistrates’ Court after the shocking spree which left shopkeepers shattered in February 2020.
Brown-Kenyon’s biggest hauls included close to $20,000 worth of fire relief donations and hair products taken from Mt Martha’s Silk Hair Skin Body salon and almost $5000 in mobile phones snatched from the Dromana post office.
The court heard the thug used a sledgehammer to break through the front door at kid’s toy shop Kinderplay Playthings Armadale in the early hours of February 4, getting away with a cash register and five boxes of Lego worth more than $1500.
On February 19 Brown-Kenyon smashed through the Dromana post office, nicking 27 mobile phones from a shattered display cabinet.
Brown-Kenyon then broke through Mt Martha’s Silk Hair Skin Body salon, taking hair extensions, styling tools and fire relief cash donations.
On February 25 Brown-Kenyon again used the weapon to bash through McKinnon’s Zebu Hair salon’s glass, getting away with a stash of hair extensions before moving onto Hairhouse Warehouse Bentleigh.
He again shattered a window, pinching a cash register just after 1am.
Officers caught up with Brown-Kenyon in Chadstone about 3.50pm, seizing a Toyota Aurion which contained the weapon and assorted Lego boxes.
As Brown-Kenyon behaved aggressively toward officers at Dandenong police station, more police were swooping on his girlfriend at the Dingley International Hotel, with her room containing the stolen hair extensions and other goods.
The court heard Brown-Kenyon also took a Box Hill Bunnings employee’s mobile phone from the counter on January 23, and a vacuum worth $1100 from the Good Guys in Cheltenham a month later.
Brown-Kenyon’s lawyer said his client began to use party drugs at 20 and was using ice by 23, with his criminal history dating back to 2012.
The court was told the former Melton Secondary College student dropped out in Year 11 and worked in various labouring jobs with his father before his drug addiction took hold.
Magistrate Charles Tan said some of the property stolen by Brown-Kenyon was not of high value but there was extensive damage left behind.
“You’re still a man in your early 30s,” he told Brown-Kenyon.
Brown-Kenyon pleaded guilty to and was convicted of charges including burglary and theft.
His 47 days spent in custody was reckoned as time served.
