Bradley Oakley: Forgetful Fountain Gate thief a nifty knife nicker
A cooked crook who stole deluxe kitchenware says he ‘couldn’t remember’ his crafty crime as he was off his head at the time.
South East
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A befuddled burglar couldn’t recall thieving two blocks of knives worth nearly $1400 from a southeast shopping centre, a court has heard.
Bradley Oakley was so drug-affected he says he didn’t remember stealing the expensive culinary gear from the House homeware shop at Fountain Gate.
The Doveton 36-year-old father of four pleaded guilty to burglary, theft and drug charges at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The court heard at 8.40pm on March 17 this year Oakley walked into the Fountain Gate shopping centre.
He approached the shutters on the front of the kitchen equipment store and rattled them back and forth until they struck a shelf behind, knocking the contents to the ground.
He managed to prise open the shutters, reach under and grab two blocks of knives, each worth $699, before walking off.
Oakley was also nabbed with a bag of ice after officers saw him riding his pushbike without a helmet in Noble Park in April last year.
And he nicked booze from a Doveton bottle shop in April this year, stuffing six cans of Wild Turkey in his pockets and walking straight past the cashier.
When cops raided his home in June they found the same clothing he had worn in the Fountain Gate burglary, but couldn’t find the missing knives.
After being shown CCTV of the incident he admitted it was him in the images, but “didn’t remember” committing any theft, saying “I don’t do burgs”.
Defence lawyer Heather Anderson said her client had issues with homelessness, mental health and heavy drug addiction at the time of the offending.
She said Oakley had already served 54 days on remand, was remorseful and determined to live a better life in the future with the help of a therapeutic court order.
“He wants to get a job, get his own place and get stability back in his life,” Ms Anderson said.
Magistrate Suzette Dootjes said if he was found suitable for a community corrections order she would release him from custody on the next court date of August 5.
