He shoplifted $10,000 worth of goods from city stores to support drug habit

Because he was jailed and had no capacity to pay, the magistrate didn’t order that he pay back any of the $10,000.

A drug addict was caught stealing more than 30 times. Photo Renee Pilcher / The Gympie Times

A drug addict stole more than $10,000 worth of products from various Toowoomba stores which he then pawned to support his drug habit.

Troy Rueben Christopher Holder had a modus operendi of walking into a store, identifying and shoplifting the item and pawning it at second hand shops for cash, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

Over 12 months between December 2019 and December 2020, the 44-year-old had stolen items some 29 times and then another five times in November last year.

Police prosecutor Rohan Brewster-Webb said Holder had stolen various items ranging from headphones, socket sets, nail guns, air compressors and liquor from a range of stores including Myer, Bunnings, Woolworths, Big W and First Choice.

He appeared by video link from Brisbane Men’s Prison to plead guilty to 47 offences including stealing, fraud, possessing dangerous drugs and associated utensils, possessing tainted property and failing to properly dispose of a syringe.

Mr Brewster-Webb said among Holder’s “appalling” 13 pages of criminal history, he had 59 previous convictions for stealing and 70 previous convictions of fraud offences.

Total amount of restitution sought for this latest offending was $10,413.41, he said.

Holder’s solicitor Amber Acreman, of Skuse Graham Lawyers, told the court her client’s battle with drugs was behind the offending.

However, he had completed a drug rehab program during the 192 days he had spent in pre-sentence custody and would attend Drug Arm upon his release.

Custody had been difficult as there were just 49 cells in her client’s section for 88 inmates and he had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor which didn’t help a pre-existing back complaint, she said.

Magistrate Kay Ryan sentenced Holder to two years in jail, to be suspended for two years, on the earlier offences.

On the later offences, he was sentenced to two years in jail, but with 192 days declared as time served, and to be released on parole as of August 30.

Because he was sentenced to a jail term and that he had no capacity to pay restitution, Ms Ryan did not make any order for compensation.