A man accused of breaking into a Gwynneville home allegedly made off with the occupant's shoes and replaced them on the rack with his own.
"That's one way to get caught - to pick up a pair of shoes and leave yours behind," Magistrate Claire Girotto said during Brian Mongta-Kelly's bail application on Monday.
The 23-year-old Balgownie man is facing charges of aggravated break and enter, having suspected stolen goods in custody, possessing housebreaking implements and giving a false name to a constable.
Police will allege two of the three residents of a Gwynneville unit arrived home about 2.30am on September 17 to find a pair of Puma joggers in the shoe rack which they'd never seen before.
The pair then noticed the unit had been ransacked and woke up the third occupant to ask if he'd heard anything.
They contacted triple-zero discovering a green push bike, $300 cash, Oakley sunglasses, shoes and other items were missing.
Meanwhile, patrolling officers allegedly saw Mongta-Kelly riding the green push bike out of a Burelli Street apartment complex and stopped him.
Police will allege Mongta-Kelly initially provided a false name, however later gave his real one.
During a search, police allegedly uncovered the Gwynneville residents' driver's licence, sunglasses and black joggers, as well as black latex gloves and a multi-tool.
Mongta-Kelly allegedly made full admissions to ransacking the premises and replacing the resident's shoes with his own.
In court, police prosecutor Sergeant Dane Corran opposed Mongta-Kelly's release, arguing the case against him was strong as he was found wearing the black joggers.
Defence lawyer Sam Karnib said the matter was likely to result in guilty pleas, adding that Monga-Kelly was honest and upfront with officers.
Magistrate Claire Girotto bailed the alleged thief under conditions he live at Bomaderry, not leave home unless in the company of a relative, and abide by a strict curfew.
Mongta-Kelly will return to court next month.
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Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
