Kyat Akot: Melton man steals $3k worth of alcohol disguised as a woman
A Melton man with a taste for hard liquor stole thousands of dollars worth of grog from bottle shops. But store staff could be forgiven if they didn’t always recognise him because sometimes he adopted a clever disguise.
West
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A man who stole more than $3000 worth of booze — at times disguised as a woman — has been released from jail.
Kyat Akot, 19, was bailed by the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, October 28, following a sticky fingered crime spree that saw him lift thousands of dollars worth of booze from bottle shops across Melton and Taylors Lakes in February and August.
Akot pleaded guilty to the thefts, which totalled $3147, as well as to breaching his bail.
The court heard at an earlier plea hearing this month Akot sometimes looted the stores dressed as a man.
At other times he opted for clothing ensembles consisting of a wig paired with women’s clothing such as a red dress and a black and white fluffy jacket
On at least one occasion he completed the look with lipstick and eye makeup.
But one thing that didn’t change was Akot’s taste in liquor.
The court heard Akot often gravitated to bourbons and whiskeys and preferred to rob the same stores, including a Dan Murphy’s in Melton West which he robbed four times in three weeks.
Akot’s lawyer Daniel Ajak told the court his client had previously had mental health issues.
But he said Akot now felt motivated to curb his offending following the birth of his first child, a daughter, earlier this year.
“He knows if he’s released into the community he needs to step up his role as a father,” Mr Ajak told the court.
“He wants to be able to get help and get some employment.
“There is an expectation from his family and from his wife’s family to satisfy the dowry obligations (to finalise their marriage).”
Magistrate Alanna Duffy deferred sentencing for December.
She bailed Akot in the meantime on the condition that he live with is father in Brookfield.
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