A repeat police evader has been released from jail.
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Sam Thomas Mullins, of Newnham, faced a string of charges including evading police, stealing, drug possession and computer-related fraud when he appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court on Friday.
The 23-year-old, who has not held a license since 2015, was accused of driving away from police on four separate occasions in April this year.
During police interviews, Mullins said he did not stop because he suffered from anxiety and did not have a licence.
He was also charged over a number of stealing offences, including items from Kmart in Launceston and an incident at a Newnham IGA where he was accused of shoving Cadbury chocolate and sprinkles down his pants.
He later admitted to police he had consumed the chocolate but denied stealing the sprinkles. Mullins was also charged with stealing biscuits from a BP at Newnham.
The court heard he had shoved the biscuits down the front of his pants and attempted to purchase a pie from the store without paying for the baked goods.
Mullins previously pleaded guilty to all charges against him.
Handing down his sentence on Friday, Magistrate Simon Brown said while the stealing and possession charges against Mullins were on the lower end of the scale, evading police was a “very serious” matter.
“I believe there is a need to deter you and send a message to other like-minded young men,” he said.
Mullins had already spent one month in prison and his defence lawyer, Fran McCracken, pushed for any further term of imprisonment to be wholly suspended.
“I have been told your time in custody has been a lesson to you and I hope a wake-up call,” Magistrate Brown said.
Mullins was convicted on all counts, disqualified from holding a license for 28 months and fined a total of $2400.
He was sentenced to five months jail, backdated to April 24, 2017.
The remainder of his sentence was wholly suspended for two years and he was released on Friday.