Trevor John Arthur, 40, appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, when he admitted to charges including theft, theft of a motor vehicle, obtaining property by deception, negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime, and unlicensed driving.

The court heard on September 7, 2018, Arthur entered a McCrae Street service station in Bendigo where he hired a vehicle, valued at $6950, for a three-hour period.

The car was due back at the service station at 6pm the same day, but Arthur never returned the vehicle.

The owner reported the theft to police on November 14, 2018. There was CCTV footage of Arthur making the purchase.

The court heard then on the night of September 13, 2018, Arthur went to the Bendigo Marketplace Woolworths store.

He went through the store grabbing items before proceeding to the self-serve checkout. Staff members believed he was stealing items.

A staff member went to assist Arthur. He became agitated and demanded the worker pack his bags.

When the worker declined, Arthur became aggressive and started swearing and threatening staff members.

Arthur refused to leave the store when asked by a security guard. He only left when staff said they would call the police.

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Police arrested Arthur on November 2, 2018, and he was brought to the Bendigo Police Station for interview.

He told police staff had been following him throughout the store so he decided he would "play a game with them" and did "everything to piss them off".

Arthur admitted to calling staff members names like "fat dog", and said he "had to get out of the store" otherwise he would have "trashed the joint".

The court heard then about 5.13pm on January 10, 2019, Arthur entered a liquor store on Mollison Street in Bendigo.

Arthur used Commonwealth Bank MasterCard details, belonging to an employment agency, to purchase alcohol worth $195. Arthur never produced a bank card.

CCTV footage identified Arthur as the person making the purchase.

On April 26 last year, police were on patrol in Bendigo when they saw what they believed was a stolen vehicle parked in a driveway.

Police attended the address and confirmed the vehicle was stolen. Police spoke to Arthur and another person who were at the house.

Police then executed a search warrant at the address and found a number of stolen items including a pair of glasses, a Garmin watch, and a toolbox.

Police also found a printer with a number of counterfeit $50 notes nearby.

Arthur was taken to the Bendigo Police Station that same day and was interviewed by police. He told officers he did not know anything about the stolen items.

The court heard then on July 30, 2019, Arthur was captured on CCTV footage attending a Bendigo post office where he collected a parcel that was not addressed to him.

The court heard Arthur presented a mobile phone image of the victim's licence as proof of identification.

On August 14, 2019, Arthur was arrested and taken to the Bendigo Police Station for interview.

In relation to the incident at the liquor store, Arthur admitted to being the person captured on CCTV footage but said he had gone inside the store to collect alcohol for another person, and that it was a phone order.

He told police he took the parcel from the post office because a female friend had asked him to.

The court heard then sometime between September 28 and 29 last year, a Kangaroo Flat resident's motorbike was stolen from the front of his house.

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On October 17, 2019, the motorbike owner was driving through North Bendigo when he saw his stolen motorbike being ridden by a man wearing a helmet.

He followed the rider to an address and then contacted police.

Police arrived at the North Bendigo address and found the stolen motorbike parked at the front of the unit. The officers knocked on the front door and another person answered.

The court heard the man appeared nervous and did not allow officers to check inside the property. Police heard noise at the rear of the property and saw Arthur under the carport.

Arthur's fingerprints were found on the motorbike, which had false cardboard number plates.

Arthur was on bail at the time of the offending but was not arrested as police were waiting for the forensic report.

The court heard then about 1.30am on October 26, 2019, Arthur was the rear passenger in a car that was intercepted by police. Police found firearms and drugs in the car.

On April 27, 2020, a representative from Haven; Home, Safe visited one of the organisation's vacated properties in Kangaroo Flat.

When the representative arrived, they found a white ute parked in the driveway and heard voices coming from inside the home. The person contacted police who attended but found no one at the residence.

The court heard there were obvious signs that people were living there, including food left on the kitchen benches, the television was still turned on, and two bedrooms were set up.

Police found the white ute was an outstanding stolen vehicle. The ute had no number plates fixed. Arthur's fingerprints were located both in the house and on the rear window of the vehicle.

The court heard on May 15 this year, Arthur attended a bank in Eaglehawk where he falsely identified himself and presented unknown documentation.

Arthur withdrew $335 cash from a victim's account. He also changed the phone number and email linked to the victim's bank account. Arthur was captured on CCTV footage making the withdrawal.

About 12.35pm on May 20 this year, Arthur attended the Woolworths store on High Street in Bendigo.

He grabbed one of the worker's black jackets, which contained the worker's car keys. Arthur is captured on CCTV putting the jacket into a bag before paying for other items.

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About 2.15pm that day, the worker noticed her jacket, car keys, and her car had been stolen and reported the thefts to police.

The car was located on May 26, 2020, at the Junortoun Caravan Park. The car had been repainted.

The court heard police located Arthur about 5.50pm on May 27 this year at the Kennington Woolworths.

He was arrested and taken to the Bendigo Police Station. He was not interviewed at that time as he was drug affected.

He was interviewed the next day where he denied stealing the car but said he couldn't remember the incident.

Defence lawyer Natasha Jayasuriya said her client had already spent 87 days in pre-sentence detention.

While she conceded Arthur had an extensive criminal history, Ms Jayasuriya said at the time of his offending, Arthur was using one gram of ice a day and about three millilitres of GHB two or three times a week.

She said Arthur also had a traumatic childhood and had previously been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder.

Ms Jayasuriya said Arthur's guilty plea showed he understood the seriousness of his offending. She said he was motivated to get his life back on track and had committed to counselling for mental health and drug issues.

Ms Jayasuriya submitted a combination sentence that included time already served would be appropriate.

But police prosecutor Senior Constable Mick Arnott said there should be a longer term of imprisonment, as well as a lengthy community corrections order.

"Given his offending and priors, I don't believe he has spent enough time in custody," Senior Constable Arnott said.

Magistrate Julie Grainger said she would need time to consider an appropriate sentence.

She remanded Arthur in custody. He is due to return to the Bendigo Magistrates' Court next month.

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