A Port Kembla man involved in the theft of brand-new TVs from a Harvey Norman loading dock has been released from prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in the community.
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Grant Petersen was sentenced in Wollongong Local Court this week in relation to four incidents dating back to October last year.
Agreed facts tendered to the court said Petersen entered Warrawong Plaza on the night of October 3, not wearing a face mask as required at the time under the Public Health Act.
He then proceeded to steal various items before leaving by an emergency exit.
Then on February 27 and March 6 this year, he was involved in the theft of several items that included clothing, bags and manchester from Kmart in the Figtree Grove shopping centre, on both occasions leaving through fire exits.
Both incidents were captured on CCTV and the total cost of the stolen goods was $581.
On March 8 police attended Petersen's address and asked him about who was in his vehicle at the time of these offences, but he failed to provide any information.
He also declined to comment on the thefts.
Petersen was again involved in a stealing incident in May, this time at Harvey Norman in Warrawong.
CCTV captured Petersen drive a hire ute to the loading dock of the store, where televisions had been delivered earlier that day but were yet to be put into the warehouse.
He got out and put four TVs, worth a total of $2780, into the ute and drove off.
However, a witness saw the theft and contacted both police and the hire company, with the ute traced to a unit in Church Street, Wollongong.
There Petersen was seen taking the TVs into the unit but when a witness knocked on the door, he began throwing them onto the grass outside.
Police arrived and arrested him.
The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to larceny, three counts of shoplifting, not disclosing the identity of a driver or passenger, and not wearing a fitted face covering under the Public Health Act.
Petersen, appearing at court via video link from jail, said he had sought a mental health plan from his GP and had been clean from heroin for a few weeks before he went into custody.
"I can absolutely say I'll be proactive and positive about seeking help," he said.
Magistrate Claire Girotto sentenced Petersen to a term of imprisonment, to be served in the community by way of an eight-month intensive corrections order involving supervision and rehabilitation.
She also ordered him to pay compensation to Kmart, and fined him $250 for not disclosing the driver or passenger details to police.
Petersen was placed on an 18-month community corrections order for the COVID face mask offence, and previous orders he breached by his offending were renewed for 12 months.
He was released from prison on Tuesday, but Magistrate Girotto warned him that if he did not engage with his orders, he risked going back behind bars.
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