A Lake Heights man who racked up over $600 in purchases with a debit card he found on the ground will spend a little longer behind bars.
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Zac Leslie Bainbridge, 27, was sentenced at Wollongong Local Court on Friday after pleading guilty to 13 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, entering inclosed lands, drug possession, stalking/intimidation, having goods suspected of being stolen, larceny, and two counts of contravening an apprehended violence order.
A statement of agreed facts tendered to the court said that between January 24 and January 25 this year, Bainbridge found a debit card on the ground in Warrawong.
Between 2.28am and 9.56am on Tuesday, January 25 he spent a total of $612.18 in 13 separate transactions.
These included three visits to BP Warrawong - where he spent almost $134 - Coles Warrawong, Coles Express, Aldi Warrawong, and Liquorland, as well as a top-up of his phone credit with a call to Optus.
Some of these visits meant he entered Warrawong Plaza, a place he had been banned from the previous month for a year.
Five days later, Bainbridge climbed up the outside of a Warrawong apartment building to reach the second-floor apartment of his former partner, whom an apprehended violence order to protect was in place.
The victim told him to go home, to which Bainbridge replied: "If you don't let me in, I am going to kill you".
Bainbridge was arrested two days later and told police he had ice in his hat.
In his hat, police discovered a tied-up latex glove, which weighed 1.95 grams.
They also found him with the debit card used to make the fraudulent transactions the previous month.
Then in August, Bainbridge was found hiding under the bed at his former partner's home, in breach of the AVO.
He also admitted to stealing from his stepmother.
Lawyer Kirby Hill told the court that Bainbridge grew up in a dysfunctional environment in which he was exposed to drugs and alcohol from a young age, which normalised them for him.
Ms Hill said her client was in and out of refuges as a teenager, and spent a lengthy period as an involuntary patient in hospital.
But prior to entering custody, she said, he had been working to obtain an apprenticeship in the hospitality industry.
Magistrate Claire Girotto said she was prepared to find "extremely special circumstances" given Bainbridge's background.
Magistrate Girotto said his criminal record was "not good, but it's not that bad"; however, compliance with court orders was an issue, which ruled out the possibility of him serving a jail sentence in the community.
She sentenced Bainbridge to seven months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of three months, dating from August.
Magistrate Girotto also ordered he pay his stepmother back $380.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
