A brass bandit will not spend time in prison for pilfering about $3500 worth of the valuable alloy from a Canberra public park under the cover of darkness.
Jai Liam Glover, 41, was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday to a 10-month intensive correction order for theft.
Magistrate James Lawton also imposed an eight-month order of the same type, along with $20 in fines, for three unrelated driving offences.
Glover, a metal worker from Kambah, had previously pleaded guilty to all four charges.
In sentencing, Mr Lawton said CCTV had captured Glover slowly removing several brass fittings and fixtures from the seats at Henry Rolland Park, in Acton, in September 2020.
This exercise, described by prosecutor Elizabeth Wren as premeditated but unsophisticated, took Glover several hours.
The thief eventually made off with the brass in a car that was registered to his brother.
Police officers identified him by tracing that vehicle, but the stolen material was never recovered.
Glover initially denied stealing the brass, and only admitted his guilt towards the end of a hearing into the theft charge late last year.
At Glover's sentencing on Wednesday, Legal Aid lawyer Benjamin Rutzou told the court his client's guilty plea had saved the court system significant time and money.
Mr Rutzou said it had been suggested the stolen brass might have been worth $100,000, which would have required the charge to be dealt with in an ACT Supreme Court trial.
Instead of going down this road, the lawyer said, Glover agreed to plead guilty if he was dealt with in the lower court on the basis it was only worth about $3500.
Mr Rutzou urged Mr Lawton not to incarcerate Glover, who has served jail sentences in the past, arguing another stint behind bars would not help the 41-year-old rehabilitate.
He noted that the Kambah man had initially been assessed as suitable for an intensive correction order, though the assessor had later reversed that finding on account of Glover's "sporadic" methamphetamine use.
Ms Wren pushed a term of full-time imprisonment, arguing Glover's criminal history revealed a "disregard for court orders" and limited the leniency he could be afforded.
She noted that the 41-year-old had 11 previous crimes of dishonesty on his record, while his latest offence of driving while disqualified would be the ninth such entry on that history.
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Mr Lawton, who described Glover's criminal history as "extensive", ultimately decided to impose intensive correction orders despite the 41-year-old having been found unsuitable.
He said he thought such orders, which involve strict supervision by ACT Corrective Services, could adequately punish Glover and deter him from reoffending.
The magistrate warned that the orders would probably be cancelled, and full-time imprisonment imposed in their place, in the event of reoffending or continued drug-taking.
"The simple reality is he will go to jail [if he does those things]," Mr Lawton said.
