A STOLEN credit card belonging to the Bendigo Stadium was used in a $700 alcohol and cigarettes spending spree, a court has heard.
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The card was stolen during a burglary in Havlin Street, carried out by a male offender who has yet to be sentenced.
His female accomplice pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Friday to a number of dishonesty charges in relation to the use of the card.
The court heard they used the card’s Paypass function to make purchases at stores throughout Bendigo in just half an hour on January 24.
They started with the purchase of $63.60 worth of items from a United petrol station at 3.30pm.
Five minutes later, they visited the Caltex in Golden Square to buy $60 worth of cigarettes and $89.40 worth of other items.
They bought two bottles of alcohol – valued at $69.99 and $45.99 – from Premix King Kangaroo Flat.
The pair bought more alcohol, valued at $88, in Kangaroo Flat, before returning and buying another $64 worth soon after, with $58.45 worth of other items.
Their final purchases, at 4pm, included $98.25 in cigarettes and $72 in groceries from Woolworths Kangaroo Flat.
The total value of the thefts was more than $710.
The court heard the credit card was under the name of a senior official at Bendigo Stadium.
Police raided a Flora Hill house soon after the spending spree and arrested the woman. She was wearing the same clothes as seen on CCTV footage at the stores.
Defence counsel Peter Cutting said the woman’s partner had only left jail two months before the offending after serving three years behind bars.
Mr Cutting said the woman had been attempting to get her life back on track when the man was released from jail.
“He’s back on the scene, and she’s become enmeshed in his way of life, including using meth,” he said.
“Her situation is quite bleak, but in general it has been getting better.”
Magistrate Bruce Cottrell decided to wait on the results of six months worth of drug screening for the woman before handing down his sentence.
“If she falls off the wagon, then I will reconsider,” he said.
She will re-appear in court in November.