An Otago man freshly released from prison in Christchurch made it as far as the two-hour drive to Timaru before offending again and being sentenced and sent back to prison six days later.
The man told the courtroom that he was released from prison at about 3 pm with no money and no place to live.
“So the offending and the dishonesty stuff was to get some money for accommodation, and things like that,”
The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to three charges of obtaining goods, valued at almost $4000, by deception from Repco Timaru, Mitre 10 Mega Dunedin and Repco Dunedin.
The man had been asked to leave the Canterbury region and probation told him it would be best to relocate to Otago.
“So I did need to do that with no money. So I’ve made my way down here. I’m stuck in Timaru pretty much.”
The man was previously employed by Jaw Autosport and Dunedin City Motors where he had access to all the accounts.
He fraudulently put purchases on these accounts at Repco and Mitre 10 valuing them at nearly $3000 all together.
He then tried to sell some of his purchases at Why Buy New Timaru.
The man described his offending as “opportunistic”, telling police he took the tools for food, money and to fix the vehicle he was using.
He was jailed for one month on the Repco Timaru offence and five months each on the two charges related to Dunedin businesses.
Terms are to be served concurrently. Reparation for all three amounts was also ordered.
