A woman who failed to cover her distinctive ink and red hair before breaking into a Wollongong CBD construction site alongside her lover on Christmas Day has narrowly avoided jail.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dawn Ede, 40, learnt her fate at Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday for leaving the scene of the crime with thousands of dollars worth of equipment.
Just before 1am on December 25, 2021, Ede and Bruce Tille, 42, defaced a dozen CCTV cameras with red spray paint in the Atchison Street high-rise complex in a bid to conceal their identities, however they failed to hide their tattoos before entering.
As a result, police were able to easily recognise the pair based on the footage from each camera in the moments before they were covered, according to tendered court documents.
Tille was seen with a distrinctive Southern Cross tattoo on his face and was wearing a white t-shirt with red sleeves, a black Adidas cap, black three-quarter pants and black Adidas shoes.
Meantime, Ede's red hair and "distinctive" arm and wrist tattoos were on display.
The footage caught the pair walking the corridors of the yet-to-be completed building, with Tille seen approaching the cameras and using a spray can to cover the lenses in paint.
The pair went to the 18th level where they discovered the office of MODCO, the construction company behind the project.
They broke in by smashing a hole in a glass window after failing to force their way through the door.
Inside, they nabbed a waterproof thickness testing instrument, a small back pack, a laptop computer, a Makita tool bag and batteries, before leaving via the lift.
The manager arrived at the site at 10am that morning and reported to police upon noticing the damage and missing items.
Officers reviewed the footage and arrested the pair on December 30.
Ede pleaded guilty to entering a dwelling with intent to damage property, aggravated break and enter committing a serious indictable offence and aggravated break and enter a dwelling in company last year.
The court heard on Tuesday that $8000 worth of items were taken and $2000 worth of damage was caused, and that since the offending, Ede had been engaging with support services and had applied for a trial for drug addiction treatment at the University of Wollongong.
However Magistrate Michael O'Brien lambasted the offender, and said she had done little to show her remorse for her "disgraceful" actions.
"This isn't your finest hour, is it?" he said.
"I thought someone facing such a serious charge would bring as much subjective material (supporting documents) as possible to avoid being incarcerated.
"Christmas morning of all days, you have helped yourself to someone else's property ... disgraceful."
Magistrate O'Brien spared Ede time behind bars and sentenced her to an 18-month intensive correction order, akin to jail time served in the community.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
