When carrying out a crime, best turn your phone off, because you never know who might be listening.
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Matthew Boyle learned that lesson the hard way in December last year after his plans for a stealthy break-in at a Wollongong home were brought completely undone by a random "pocket-dial" to his girlfriend.
Police were already secretly recording Boyle's conversations when they happened upon the 34-minute phone call, in which Boyle and his co-accused could be heard unsuspectingly giving a step by step account of their movements as they cased a Harbour Street unit complex in search of a new "toy" in time for Christmas.
In documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court, police said the pair honed in on a Honda CBR650R motorcycle, only to be busted mid-theft by the bike's owner.
Seemingly undeterred, Boyle initially claimed the pair was acting on behalf of debt collectors, only to turn nasty and produce a knife when the victim questioned their story.
"I'll put this through your f--king neck, I've already done 14 years in jail and I'm not doing any more because of you," he told the victim, who backed off and allowed the two men to leave.
The court heard police had been listening in on Boyle's phone calls under surveillance warrant at the time after he had been implicated in an armed robbery at the Balgownie Hotel four months earlier.
On that occasion, Boyle entered the hotel just before 11pm wearing a black motorcycle helmet and carrying an item resembling a handgun in his left hand.
He approached a worker and pointed the would-be weapon t the man before telling him "I've got a gun and I want all the money".
The workers emptied one of the cash drawers at the main bar and handed Boyle the money, however he was unsatisfied with the amount and said "f--k, I need more, what else do you have?"
They then gave Boyle more money from the hotel's takeaway bar till and he left, making off with about $1,100 in total.
In subsequent phone taps, police heard Boyle tell a friend "last time I owed some c--t I did a stick up to repay 'em."
He told another friend a few days later "I've got a little fake. I've got a fake, a little fake wrap. Umm...a little fake shnun gay and that. Yeah, it looks the part. C--ts crumble."
Boyle was arrested on December 7 and charged with multiple offences relating to both crimes.
He subsequently pleaded guilty robbery, break and enter and offensive weapon charges.
He will face Wollongong District Court later this year for sentencing.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
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