A DRUG user who stole a car while the of owner used at ATM in Sale and finished a trail of offending in Portland has had four months cut from his jail sentence on appeal.
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Jamie Moody, 28, previously of Traralgon, pleaded guilty during September in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to almost 30 charges, mostly relating to stealing cars and serious driving offences.
He also breached a corrections order and was resentenced.
Moody was jailed for a 20 months, with a minimum 12 months to serve, fined $1000, banned from driving for four years and ordered to pay $500 compensation.
Moody appealed against the severity of the jail term which was heard in the Warrnambool County Court this week.
After hearing details of the offending and the penalties imposed, Judge John Smallwood restructured the sentence.
Moody now has a 14-month jail term with a minimum eight months to serve.
The magistrates court previously heard that after a short jail sentence mid last year, Moody soon after stopped attending a corrections order and started a drug-fuelled crime spree.
His offending included stealing licence plates, driving a car 4.5 kilometres on a rim, dangerously overtaking a bus and fleeing from an accident he caused.
In May police parked behind a man behaving suspiciously in Torquay but Moody drove onto a footpath, sideswiped two shops, knocked down a fixed bin and sped off.
He also went to hospitals, claimed to be his brother and got prescription medication.
When a man left his keys in his car and the vehicle running to use an ATM in Sale on May 28, Moody jumped in the vehicle and drove off.
The car was found in Cape Bridgewater the next day and was an insurance write-off.
Moody stole licence plates at Cobden and Nelson, accelerated away from police near Cobden at 138km/h, drove at undercover police in Warrnambool and passed a truck on double line around a blind bend while travelling at about 150km/h near Portland.
A magistrate said it was only good luck that Moody had not killed or seriously injured someone.
"He's oblivious to the impact of his conduct on others when he's using substances," he said.
The magistrate said the offending ranged from minor to some of the most serious which could be dealt with in a magistrates courts.