Scott Gedge.
A WARRNAMBOOL basketballer and development coach is now serving four months in jail after he had his appeal quashed yesterday.
Scott Gedge, 34, of Darwinia Street, Dennington, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrate Court in mid-February to stealing $6738 from his employer.
He was convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, with four months to be served immediately before being eligible for parole.
Yesterday, he appealed against the severity of the sentence to the Warrnambool County Court but Judge Mark Taft reimposed the same sentence and Gedge went straight into custody.
Judge Taft said prison was a last resort but in this case imprisonment had to be imposed. He said Gedge received a suspended jail sentence on a theft charge in 2009, but was back in court five months after the expiry date for stealing from an employer.
Judge Taft said it was a blatant breach of trust and Gedge lied to his employer about where the money went.
“I am told you are not unfamiliar with thieving from your employer. I am sympathetic to your personal circumstances but you are a very slow learner,” he said.
“You have let down yourself, you have let down your partner and you have let down your children. The gravity of the offence demands a prison sentence. Your prior criminal history dictates you must learn your lesson the hard way.”
The court heard that Gedge was working at Sleep City at the Homemaker Centre in east Warrnambool during September last year when he was asked by his employer to take $6738 cash to a bank deposit box and collect change. One week later administrative staff questioned where the takings had gone.
Gedge said the bank must have lost the money. However, bank security camera footage showed Gedge went straight to the teller to collect change and did not go near the deposit box in the bank.
