A Karoola man who caused $40,000 worth of damage to a business in Invermay when he stole a truck was sentenced to 18 months' jail.
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Cade Geordie Haines, 32, of Karoola, was unanimously found guilty last month by a Supreme Court jury of burglary, attempted stealing, three counts of injuring property and stealing on November 25, 2018.
Justice Michael Brett suspended nine months of the sentence and ordered that Haines be directed by a probation officer upon release.
"The jury was satisfied that you were the person depicted in CCTV footage from the business premises," he said.
"This was a serious example of burglary of a commercial premises in which your criminal conduct was deliberate and premeditated.
"You have demonstrated no remorse."
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Haines, whose application for bail while awaiting sentence was dismissed, had shown a disdain for the owners and employees of Veolia Environmental Services.
The jury heard that Haines was wearing a hoodie, gloves, a face mask and a distinctive pair of black and white shoes when he broke into Veolia about 5.20am.
The jury saw 40 minutes of CCTV footage which showed a man in distinctive black and white runners break in to the Veolia office and remove keys.
Haines tried to steal a Mazda utility by ramming it backwards and forwards into the fence for 10 minutes before giving up.
He then stole a Isuzu truck and smashed through the fence.
Justice Brett said the Haines had tried to use the truck as a battering ram and had caused substantial damage to the perimeter fence.
A breakthrough in the police investigation came when a detective visited Haines' home and spotted similar shoes in the lounge room.
He also saw a Isuzu truck in the driveway and after searching a database noticed it was the model stolen from Veolia.
The detective checked Haines' Facebook page and saw an image from November 3 of a pair of black and white shoes with a message: "Thanks Mum for giving me these".
Haines claimed he found the truck by the side of the road and took it home.
The court heard that Haines was found guilty of a crime spree in December 2019 for which he was sentenced to a Community Correction Order.
Justice Brett said the subsequent offences did not aggravate the criminality but provided a context.
"It shows that these were not isolated or out of character offences," he said.
He said illicit drug use had been a problem for Haines but he was engaging satisfactorily on the CCO and had been pursuing employment opportunities.
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