A Warrnambool murder parolee who stole a mobile phone while calling into a Melbourne antiques shop has been fined $1250 but and now risks being returned to jail for three years.
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Charles McDonald, 54, of Nicholson Street, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday to theft and possessing cannabis.
Police said that at 10.30am on December 12 last year McDonald, a truck driver, went to a Canterbury Road antiques shop in Melbourne.
The shopkeeper left her mobile phone unattended and McDonald, who had a similar phone with a smashed screen, took it. The shopkeeper reviewed security camera footage and the theft was discovered.
McDonald was identified and a police search of his home found the phone and uncovered 3.5 grams of cannabis.
Defence counsel Belinda Northey said her client was on parole at the time of the offending. In 2000 McDonald was jailed for 18 years on a murder charge and had to serve 15 years before being eligible for parole. However, his three-year parole started on August 23, 2013.
