A Warrawong thief who went on a "strange" and "unsophisticated" online shopping spree using stolen cards came undone after the purchases were directed to her address.
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Repeat offender Bronwyn Veronica Grace Robinson racked up more than $3000 in hair products after stealing the bank cards of two victims last year.
The 26-year-old broke into a Holden Colorado ute parked in Port Kembla during October last year and nabbed a man's wallet.
The victim checked his bank statement the next day after noticing his cards were gone, and found eight separate purchases were made - with $1555 worth in hair products bought from a Bellambi salon. He alerted police.
The following month, police issued a search warrant on Square Au Pty Ltd - a company which provides businesses or sole traders with EFTPOS machine terminals.
Square responded to the warrant and provided information in relation to the linked account - being the Bellambi salon - and also provided Robinson's personal information.
Robinson struck again on December 3 when CCTV captured her riding a scooter around Warrawong Plaza's car park, near her second victim's work car.
Robinson reached into the white Mitsubishi Fuso which had a window slightly open, and nicked the victim's wallet, before going on to buy another $2027 worth in hair products from a Wollongong salon.
Tracking the payments on his bank statement, the victim called the salon and explained his card had been stolen, with a staff member confirming they would cancel and refund the order.
Staff also provided Robinson's phone number and address that she included in the shipping details.
The victim called Robinson, however she denied picking up a wallet earlier that day. He then called police.
Officers arrived at Robinson's property on January 25 and told her they'd been granted a search warrant to look for the victim's bank cards. She was arrested at the scene.
In court, Magistrate Claire Girotto asked "what's with all these hair products? It's thousands of dollars worth."
Defence lawyer Jack Murray conceded the offending was serious, however said it was "a bit strange and unsophisticated" as the products were tracked to her address.
Mr Murray said Robinson had taken steps to address her drug issue before she went into custody in January.
However Magistrate Girotto said she was left with no other option but to jail Robinson due to her record.
Robinson was handed a 12-month community correction order and a seven-month jail term, with a non-parole period of three months.
With time already served, Robinson may be released as early as next week, pending the finalisation of separate matters.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
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Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
