A TERANG drug user who used cheques to buy goods valued at thousands of dollars when he didn't have money in his bank accounts has been placed on a 12-month community corrections order.
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Paul Mueller, 36, of Escort Street, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to a large number of offences relating to driving, fraud, theft of a ute and assault matters.
He had spent 102 days in custody before being sentenced to do the corrections order.
Police said Mueller used cheques to buy tools and other items when there were no funds in his bank account.
His driver's licence had been cancelled for four years, but he was caught a number of times driving while disqualified and was involved in petrol drive-offs.
A family dispute also led to assault-related charges.
On February 17 Mueller was found asleep in a McDonald’s restaurant car park with stolen number plates on his unregistered red Ford sedan.
When arrested, officers found keys to a stolen white tray ute and a small amount of ice on him.
Mueller told police he had been using ice and spent $1000 in the previous couple of weeks on the drug.
The corrections order aims to deal with his drug issues, which are the underlying cause of his offending.
