A magistrate has given a man who stole two six-packs of beer a good behaviour bond, noting the man had otherwise turned his life around.
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Earlier this year, the man went to the register of the Eaglehawk supermarket bottle shop with the two packs of beer, worth $39.50, but upon noticing the employee was occupied, walked out without paying.
The man pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court this week to theft.
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He had already returned to the store to pay for the alcohol.
Magistrate Patrick Southey said it was disappointing as the man was in "a lot of trouble" when he was younger, but not since the mid-1990s.
The man told the court he was clean from drugs and alcohol for 25 years, but had experienced the re-emergence of past trauma more recently.
"I was not really in my right mind," he said of the theft.
He said he had since undergone rehabilitation and was again abstinent.
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Mr Southey said the man had had a brief relapse, but had otherwise done "really well".
He also commended the man for returning to the store to pay for the stolen drinks, noting it was something rarely seen in the court.
Mr Southey put the man on a 12-month good behaviour bond, without conviction.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
