A Port Kembla thief who broke into Bluescope twice and stole hundreds of kilos worth of copper has had his sentence slashed.
Allen James Wakeford faced Wollongong District Court from custody on Friday to appeal his original penalty.
He previously pleaded guilty to eight charges including break, enter and steal, two counts of entering a building with intent to commit an indictable offence, and two counts of dealing with property that was the proceeds of crime.
The court heard Wakeford drove to BlueScope at Port Kembla on January 18 and cut a padlock to enter the building before accessing underground storage with copper and aluminium cables inside.
He, along with an unknown co-accused, loaded the car with metals. Wakeford later sold the items off, including 336kg of copper for $2700, the court heard.
The court heard Wakeford struck again sometime between February 1 and 15, when he broke into a BlueScope storage warehouse off Five Islands Rd, with his fingerprints detected around the area.
The break-in was reported by staff members after they found a hot-wired forklift at the site. The court heard Wakeford had dismantled motors before he made off with hundreds of kilograms of copper.
At Port Kembla Local Court last month, Wakeford was sentenced to four years jail with a non-parole period of three years, making him eligible for release in February 2026.
On Friday, defence lawyer Laura Fennell argued for a lesser penalty, arguing Wakeford had significant mental health issues stemming from childhood abuse.
Judge Siobhan Herbert said the offences are "objectively serious" but allowed the appeal, finding special circumstances for an earlier release.
"He is clearly a person in need of a lengthy period of supervision to assist him in relation to his rehabilitation," Judge Herbert said.
Wakeford's sentence was reduced to three years behind bars with a non-parole period of 18 months, making him eligible for release in August next year.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
