Nine-month jail term 'not something to complain about' for habitual burglar

Jason Clark, 45, abandoned an appeal against his sentence in Warrnambool County Court on April 29, 2024.

He had made a bid for an early release from jail after being sentenced to nine months earlier this year for burglary and other offences.

The court heard Clark was jailed in June 2023 for handling stolen goods, obtaining property by deception and theft.

He was released in September that year and within two months had broken into an Officer Court home in Warrnambool.

The court heard he entered the house between 4.30am and 7.30am on November 15, rifled through doors and cupboards before stealing an Apple computer.

Police raided his home on November 24 and the stolen computer was found in a bag located inside a Ford Falcon sedan.

He was also found in possession of stolen goods, including two smart watches and various boxes of perfume.

The court heard the man had 41 pages of criminal history.

Clark's lawyer said his client was "over the half-way mark", with only four months left to serve in jail, but feared being released back into the community with no support.

He said when not supported Clark relapsed "quickly into his old ways" and urged the court to consider a community correction order.

"He finds he commits offences so he can go back to jail. He can do jail," the lawyer said.

But Judge Gavan Meredith said given Clark's history and the frequency of his crimes, nine months' jail was not something to complain about.

He said while it was promising Clark had "dried" out in custody, he was not willing to consider a correction order, which the man had previously breached on four separate occasions.

"You can't go round burgling people's houses. My hands are tied, that's how I see it," he said, in which Clark replied "fair enough, your honour".

The appeal was abandoned and Clark returned to custody.