A victim has been left $6000 poorer after being scammed by a serial offender who also pleaded guilty to possessing methylamphetamine.
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Magistrate Sharon McRae asked 44-year White Hills father of one Damien Baker, who is on a disability pension, 'aren't you sick of coming to court?'
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The court heard on May 22, 2022, Baker called the victim who he knew to tell him that he had a car he could sell to him.
However Baker didn't have a car to sell.
The victim transferred $6000 for the car, but Baker used the money to buy a motorbike for himself.
Drugs discovered after dodgy u-turn lands car in paddock
The victim later contacted Baker and confronted him about getting the car.
The victim also attended Baker's home on July 22, where he found nobody home but noticed motorbike.
After the incident, Baker blocked the victim's number.
Baker was arrested on January 5, 2023, and then released pending inquiries.
He was arrested a second time on October 30, 2022, after being found with 1.2grams of methylamphetamine in his pocket by police.
Baker had been checked when a car in which he was a passenger performed a u-turn into another car in a bid to avoid a drug testing site near Holdsworth Road, White Hills.
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After the crash, the vehicle had ended up in a paddock, where it became stuck.
Magistrate McRae asked Baker's lawyer Karin Temperley how he would pay back the victim.
"How is anyone on a disability pension going to get $6000?" she said.
"I suspect he struggles from week to week."
The court heard the former mechanic had previously been placed on a community corrections order and had faced a lengthy licence loss for previous offending.
Baker is 'committed' to repaying victim
Miss Temperley said her client, who had experienced a tough time in terms of recent grief, was "committed to paying it back".
Baker first came to court in 1995 and the court heard his record was "littered" with prior convictions.
"You just go back to offences of dishonesty, time and time and time again," Magistrate McRae said.
"Through Facebook and the internet - it's so easy to rip people off - but that doesn't mean you should do it," she told him.
"The community is not interested in being ripped off by internet scams - they're losing money every day to scams like this.
"We want to live in a community where people can be trusted."
The Magistrate said she would jail Baker if he returned for something similar.
He was fined $1500 with conviction and must also pay $136.70 in statutory costs.
He must also pay back the $6000 with the first payment of $100 due on October 21.
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Lucy Williams
Journalist with an interest in telling regional and rural stories, and covering the diverse array of topics that matter to the people of Bendigo.
Journalist with an interest in telling regional and rural stories, and covering the diverse array of topics that matter to the people of Bendigo.
