Glen Bennett, 44, pleads guilty to theft and corrections breach
A magistrate has branded a burglar a “massive disappointment” after he failed to break into a Geelong stage twice and then resorted to stealing from a supermarket.
Geelong
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A burglar has bungled two break-in attempts and then resorted to an easier get by stealing over $1300 in meat from Woolworths.
Glen Andrew Bennett, 44, pleaded guilty to theft and the breach of a community corrections order in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday.
Bennett, who appeared via video link from custody, started his theft spree by breaking into the Curlewis Golf Club at 10pm on September 4 last year.
He stole a golf club and a bathrobe.
On September 23, Bennett set his sights on breaking into the Gordon TAFE campus in Geelong.
He tried to squeeze himself through a door but was unable to get his entire body into the building.
Bennett fled the scene on foot but the entire incident was captured on CCTV footage.
One week later, Bennett returned to enter the TAFE building.
He attempted to remove screws from the doorframe but once again bungled his break-in attempt.
He fled the scene on foot, but left behind fingerprints on the door frame, which detectives collected.
Police officers searched his home and found the stolen bathrobe as well as the clothes he was wearing on the CCTV footage of the failed break-in.
The theft streak continued on January 8, when Bennett and two other people entered the Kingston Village Square shops in Ocean Grove.
The trio entered a liquor store with a pram and hid several liquor bottles inside.
Bennett was pushing the pram and made no attempt to pay for the alcohol.
All three individuals then entered the nearby Woolworths and began shoving meat items and other stolen goods into the pram.
Another shopper witnessed the thefts and reported the trio to staff and police.
Bennett, still pushing the pram, left the store through the entry gates.
He then joined his accomplishes in McDonald’s, where police found him and the stolen goods.
$1386 worth of meat, three bottles of Jack Daniel’s, razors, black tea and electric shavers were among the goods located by police.
Bennett was arrested and interviewed.
Police officers said he was argumentative during the interview and denied any knowledge of the incidents.
Magistrate Simon Guthrie said rehabilitation was clearly “not working” for Bennett.
“You must be a massive disappointment to your parents,” he said.
Mr Guthrie said he needed more time to consider an appropriate sentence for Bennett.
Bennett with appear before Mr Guthrie on Wednesday to learn his sentence.
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