Namuka Dowling worked with another man to execute a brazen pokies room theft but CCTV was watching

Two men teamed up to execute a crime at a Yeppoon venue and despite efforts to block a security camera, it still helped police catch them.

Namuka Dowling.

A man tried to outsmart a security camera at a Yeppoon hotel but it ultimately still helped convict him of a pokies room theft.

Namuka Dowling, 23, pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on November 18 to stealing a wallet and credit card.

The court heard that on August 6, about 9.30pm, the victim was playing the pokies at the Railway Hotel when he left his wallet there.

When he returned 20 minutes later, the wallet was gone.

Dowling was at the venue with a co-offender at the time, the court heard.

Police Prosecutor Pete Rumford said CCTV footage “clearly” showed the co-offender take the wallet and look through it while Dowling “deliberately” put himself in front of a CCTV camera in an attempt to block it from capturing the offence.

On October 17, police spoke with Dowling who made full admissions to deliberately trying to block CCTV footage while the co-offender went through the victim’s wallet.

Solicitor Krissy Cummins said Dowling had been drinking on the day of the offence and he “made a stupid decision to assist his friend by blocking the CCTV footage”.

“He is remorseful and he expressed that to police,” Ms Cummins said.

The court heard that Dowling was on a suspended sentence for assault occasioning bodily harm (unlike offending) at the time of committing this offence.

Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale fined Dowling $400 and she did not activate the suspended sentence.

Originally published as Namuka Dowling worked with another man to execute a brazen pokies room theft but CCTV was watching