Thief who stripped 19 homes of their CCTV fronts Werribee Magistrates’ Court

The irony of a thief stealing 19 CCTV cameras from private homes around Point Cook and Williams Landing was not lost on a Werribee magistrate.

Jye Payne said he had been on drugs when he went on the stealing spree.

A man has fronted Werribee Magistrates' Court after he went on a security camera stealing spree around Point Cook and Williams Landing housing estates.

In a twist of irony, Jye Payne confessed in court yesterday to pilfering the security cameras, commonly used to prevent theft, from at least 19 homes.

When asked by Magistrate John Bentley why he pilfered the cameras, Payne said he had “no reason”.

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“These are people who have put cameras up to stop thieves, but they haven’t stopped the person stealing the cameras,” Mr Bentley said.

“Have you got a camera fetish or something? Why steal so many?

“Was your intention to break into those houses at a later time?”

Payne said he had been on drugs at the time but had since cleaned up his act, including getting full time work as a tyre fitter.

“I have no reason for doing it — I was going through a rough patch, I was using drugs and I had been kicked out of home,” he told the court.

Payne was sentenced to a community corrections order where he must complete 250 hours of unpaid work.