Inept thief bungles way through a four-fail day after stealing wallet from ute at

A mum who stole a wallet and phone from a car at a Frankston shopping centre unknowingly left a bank receipt behind. And that was just the start of a bungled plan to steal cash, cigarettes and petrol.

An inept thief has fronted court over a series of epic fails.

It didn’t take long for police to track down a crook who stole a wallet from a ute — as the inept thief had left a bank receipt inside the vehicle.

Mt Martha mum Tollea Joy Cook later the same day tried to steal money by using the victim’s bank card, failing four times to guess his PIN.

Then she tried to use his stolen fuel card to buy petrol at a servo, only for that to fail dismally, too.

A fourth effort — trying to buy cigarettes from a store — also ended the same way for the hapless bandit.

In each of these cases she was viewed committing the crimes on CCTV.

Cook pleaded guilty to a range of theft-related charges and drug-driving at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The court heard the 38-year-old and a co-accused were at Karingal Hub Shopping Centre in Frankston about 7am on May 9 last year.

Cook stole a wallet containing $350 in cash, a bank card, a fuel card and a mobile phone from a ute before being driven off by the co-accused.

But she had made a rookie error — she had left a bank receipt with her details on it inside the victim’s car.

Later that day she tried to use the fuel card to buy $60 worth of petrol from a Dromana servo, but the transaction failed and she instead used the man’s stolen money to pay.

She next went to a Dromana ATM to try to withdraw some of the victim’s cash — but didn’t know his PIN, so instead randomly guessed, and failed, on four occasions.

And for her fourth disaster of the day she tried to buy more than $130 worth of cigarettes from Dromana Foodworks with the stolen card, was again refused, and again used the stolen money to buy the smokes.

MORE: DRUNK GRANDAD'S LEARNER DRIVER STUFF-UP

POLICE POLLIE MICHAEL LAMB FACES SEX CHARGE

DRUGGIE TOOK SELFIE WITH STOLEN POLICE GEAR

Cook was arrested and bailed to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court, but failed to do so.

On August 25 last year she was caught drug-driving on the Goulburn Valley Highway near Murchison, where she failed an oral fluid test.

Her defence lawyer said Cook was using ice at the time of her offending but was now prepared to attend psychological treatment, provide clean drug screens and undergo supervision.

Magistrate Timothy Gattuso stood the case down for a community corrections order assessment to be made.