A DESPERATE ice user who wanted to go and see his mother who suffers from cancer has been order to do community work after stealing cash from a gym.
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Allen Tokona, 33, of Whitehead Court, Warrnambool, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to theft.
Police said that at 6.45pm on June 6 a person attended Anytime Fitness at Gateway Plaza and put her personal items in the cube storage.
Tokona arrived at 7.23pm, took $320 from the victim’s purse in her handbag and left one minute later.
When the victim returned home she realised the money was missing and reported the theft to police.
When arrested, Tokona denied the theft, but admitted he had been at the gym.
Tokona has significant prior court appearances, mostly relating to his ice use.
He spent six weeks in rehabilitation and claims to have been clean for the past four or five months.
Defence counsel Adam Bellman said the offending was opportunistic and his client needed cash to visit his mother who had cancer.
"It's pretty ordinary offending involving a soft target," magistrate Cynthia Toose said,
Tokona was convicted, ordered to pay $320 compensation, placed on a six-month community corrections order with the condition he do 60 hours of community work.
