Klepto claimed he thought the display phones were free

A SELF-confessed kleptomaniac claimed he thought the display phones were free for him to take - the magistrate wasn't wearing it.

A SELF-CONFESSED kleptomaniac who stole thousands of dollars worth of mobile phones from Toowoomba stores tried to claim the phones were on display so he had thought they were worthless and he was entitled to take them.

Magistrate Graham Lee said he "rejected completely" those claims made by 45-year-old Jamie Michael Johnson.

The serial thief appeared by video link from Brisbane Men's Correctional Centre to plead guilty before Toowoomba Magistrates Court to 17 charges.

Johnson had been caught on CCTV footage stealing the mobile phones from display counters in two Toowoomba department stores over various days in November, the court heard.

The six mobile phones ranged in value from $649 to $1500 and totalled more than $6000.

He had also been captured on camera stealing a $1500 laptop computer from one department store on November 10, which was only discovered when staff later viewed the footage.

The court heard Johnson had gone to Kmart in Grand Central on December 3 and loaded into a shopping trolley a bicycle inside a box which he simply wheeled out of the store without paying.

He returned later that day with the empty bicycle box and proceeded to steal another bike after which he again walked out without paying.

He had also been found by police with a small amount of amphetamine and a pipe for smoking drugs on Christmas Eve.

Johnson, who already had eight pages of criminal history, pleaded guilty to all 17 offences.

His solicitor Alysha Jacobsen, of Bouchier Khan Lawyers, conceded her client's history worked against him.

However, upon his release from prison he intended living with his daughter and he had a labouring job lined up, she said.

Magistrate Graham Lee declared the 39 days Johnson had spent in pre-sentence custody as time already served and sentenced him to 15 months in jail but ordered he be released on parole on May 23 after having served a third of the sentence.

Johnson was ordered to pay full restitution of more than $7000. 

Originally published as Klepto claimed he thought the display phones were free