UPDATE, Monday, 2.30pm: A Warrnambool man who used a stolen bank card to go on a shopping spree across Warrnambool has been jailed for 28 days.
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Luke Brennan, 39, of Laverock Road, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday to theft and dishonesty-related offences.
Lawyer Sarah Westwood said Brennan was struggling with an ice addiction that had escalated after his two children went to live with their mother.
She said he had used ice shortly before being taken into custody on Saturday afternoon and was “not in a good way”.
Brennan was sentenced to 28 days in jail, with the two days he had spent in the cells counted as time already served.
Police said a Commonwealth Bank Mastercard was reported stolen on New Year's Eve.
Then on January 1 Brennan used the card to purchase more than $350 worth of items from several Warrnambool stores.
The purchases included cigarettes, petrol, gift cards, milk, food and a newspaper.
He was identified on security camera footage and arrested on Saturday outside a Warrnambool Woolworths shopping centre.
Staff members said Brennan entered the store and attempted to purchase a number of items but the bank card was declined.
A search of his bag revealed a bottle of eye cream.
He said it was for his mother and left without paying.
Police approached Brennan in the car park and noticed a satchel-type bag concealed under his jacket.
A search of the bag revealed a number of electronic items and toiletries valued at $404.
The items were returned to Woolworths shopping centre and Brennan was arrested.
In court he was also ordered to pay $353 restitution.
Earlier: A MAN ordered to do community work mid last month after stealing clothes from the Salvation Army is now in the Warrnambool police station cells on fraud-related charges.
Warrnambool police Sergeant Tom Morris said the 39-year-old Warrnambool man was arrested at the weekend, charged and was expected to appear in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday for a bail/remand hearing.
It's alleged the accused man stole a Commonwealth Bank Mastercard on New Year's Eve and then used the card on January 1 five times in Warrnambool, buying items worth hundreds of dollars.
He was identified on security camera footage and then arrested at the weekend.
The man has also been charged with theft from the Warrnambool central BWS store.
