A man who stole a luxury car before using a stolen Mastercard to spend-up on vapes will be sentenced in the district court.
Tamworth man Dremayne Turnbull pleaded guilty to the March, 2023, crime spree when he faced Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday.
According to a statement of agreed facts, Turnbull was part of a group who broke into two Newcastle homes while the occupants were sleeping.
The facts said they first broke into a home in Fifth Street at North Lambton some time overnight on March 23 to 24 and stole keys to a Kia Seltos - but did not take the vehicle.
They were then spotted - wearing hoods, gloves and face masks - in the backyard of a house on Stevenson Avenue at Mayfield West by a resident whose security system alerted him to their presence. The group of four fled when the man went outside.
They then went into a home on Rembrandt Drive at Merewether while a family slept inside, and stole a gold bracelet worth $7500, a Mimco purse containing $750 cash, and several Apple products.
They left the scene in a Mercedes Benz belonging to the residents, which was captured in CCTV footage travelling along Rembrandt Drive just before 6.30am.
A few hours later, Turnbull used a Mastercard he stole from the Merewether house to buy $100 worth of vapes from a Jesmond tobacconist.
Police arrested him at Waratah West later that day, after one of the Merewether victims tracked her stolen iPhone and passed on the location to investigators.
Turnbull, who remains in custody, will face Newcastle District Court on March 7 to get a sentence date.
