A homeless woman jailed for stealing a car from a Warilla service station so she and her dog had somewhere to live has had her sentence overturned on appeal.
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Bianca James, 37, was sentenced to 10 months jail with a four-month non-parole period in Wollongong Local Court last month after admitting she took the vehicle from next to the bowser while the owner was inside paying for fuel.
However, James appealed the decision to the NSW District Court, claiming the penalty was too harsh.
Judge Julia Baly agreed, reducing James' sentence to a 12-month community correction order and ordered her immediate release from custody.
Court documents said the vehicle's owner filled up her white Subaru Impreza with $15 worth of petrol just after 3.30pm on April 6 and headed into the shop to pay, leaving her keys in the car.
The court heard James got in the vehicle and drove off while the woman was inside the store.
The victim called police and officers patrolled the area but were unable to find the car. Police reviewed CCTV footage from the service station and were able to identify James based on previous dealings with her.
Four days later, the victim's son saw his mother's stolen Subaru at traffic lights on Shellharbour Road, with James in the driver's seat.
The man followed the car until James stopped at Croom. He removed the keys from the ignition and contacted police.
When arrested, James confirmed she had been living in the car with her dog.
In court on Wednesday, James said she had been ill at the time she committed the crime and had not been "thinking clearly".
"I was really, really sick, I'd been walking around a lot that day with bags of my things," she said.
"I can't really explain what I was thinking. I didn't have the attitude that I was going to steal a car."
She told the court she had washed and cleaned the vehicle o9n the morning of her arrest, intending to return it to its owner.
Judge Baly said she had no reason to doubt James' testimony and agreed the magistrate's sentence was too severe.
"This was in some respects a brazen offence but if one accepts [James's] evidence she was very unwell at the time," she said. "I find she's remorseful for her actions and the offence seems out of character."
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