Rodney Brown, 51, of Cramer Street, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to burglary.

The court heard that on October 21 last year, Brown entered a garage of a property in Warrnambool's Princess Street between midnight and 6am.

He ransacked a vehicle, stealing packets of pain medication Panadol and Nurofen.

Brown also stole a whole lamb that was recently slaughtered and placed inside a freezer at the property.

He then attended the Family Relationship Centre on Jamieson Street where he broke the petrol cap on two business vehicles parked at the rear of the property.

He siphoned petrol from one of the vehicles. Brown's fingerprints were located at the scene of the crime and due to his criminal history, he was identified.

The man also pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill. That charged related to an incident on October 11 last year when he rang his former partner of 15 years and told her that if she didn't return his dentures, he would "end (her) life".

He was arrested on January 19, conveyed to Warrnambool police station and interviewed.

Brown told police he was living on the streets and had burgled the two properties in order "to survive".

He said when he attended the Family Relationship Centre, he accessed the tanks of the vehicles but received only a mouthful of petrol.

Magistrate Mark Stratmann said Brown had served a number of terms of imprisonment for "very, very similar offending."

"You have undermined the trust of the community and that is extremely serious," he said.

Brown was jailed for five months with a community corrections order to commence upon his release.

Magistrate Mark Stratmann said if not for the man's guilty plea, he would have been sentenced to eight months' jail.

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