John Donnelly pleads guilty to handling stolen goods
An ex-bikie busted with stolen loot in his Barwon Heads shed said there were two-sides to every story and he just pleaded guilty to get the matter sorted.
A former bikie has pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods to save the court time, after planning to contest the matter.
John Donnelly, 42, fronted the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to several counts of handling stolen goods.
According to court documents released to the Geelong Advertiser, Donnelly’s house was raided after he sold a stolen air compressor back to its owner in May through Facebook Marketplace.
The owner, whose property in Conneware was burgled in February, recognised the compressor as it has his personal phone number written on it.
The sale led investigators to raid several locations including a shipping container in South Geelong and Donnelly’s home address.
Police listed power tools, batteries, electronics, appliances and a bathtub among the items.
Some of the recovered goods were stolen from building sites in Mount Duneed and Moolap, according to the documents, as well as a caravan storage premises burgled in May.
It was not suggested that Donnelly was involved in the burglaries and his lawyer told the court he “acquires them on Facebook marketplace himself”.
Donnelly had intended to contest the allegations, with his plea coming after a sentencing indication from magistrate Franz Holzer.
His lawyer, Samuel Russo, told the court the key issue was whether all the “vast array” of goods found in his client’s shed were stolen.
Three items – an air compressor, a bathtub and a trailer – were conceded, the court heard, but the rest were not, with Mr Russo submitting there was nothing linking some of the items found such as serial numbers.
Mr Russo used a Weber BBQ as an example, arguing while the victim reported one stolen, there was no evidence the same one was found in Donnelly’s possession.
“It’s not a single item like a barbecue on its own, it’s a part of the group (of items),” the police prosecutor submitted in response.
After reading the summary of police allegations, Mr Holzer said there was a “commonality” of the stolen items and the items found in Donnelly’s possession.
He said while it was a circumstantial case it was “not a weak one”, noting the three conceded items, and said a jail sentence was on the cards if Donnelly took the matter to a contested hearing and was found guilty.
“If there was a plea on these matters today, there’s a likelihood that I would not impose a jail sentence,” Mr Holzer told him, adding he had to balance the “risks and benefits” of fighting the allegations.
The matter was stood down so Mr Russo could receive instructions from Donnelly, who ultimately accepted the indication.
Mr Russo noted it was an early plea, that “alleviates substantial court time” and Mr Holzer said it was a “wise choice”.
Speaking to the Geelong Advertiser outside court, Donnelly said there were “two sides to every story” and he just pleaded guilty to have the matter “sorted”.
“There were plenty of documents in our defence,” Donnelly said, adding: “obviously … you get a biased view if you just read (the police) summaries.”
Donnelly was convicted and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid community work, as part of a work-only, one year community corrections order (CCO).
He was also ordered to pay $1000 in restitution.
Donnelly’s criminal history was raised during the hearing, including a prison sentence and failed appeal that related to a million-dollar car rebirthing racket.
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Originally published as John Donnelly pleads guilty to handling stolen goods
