The reason why two men rammed Warrnambool's Gateway Plaza, leaving a $180,000 damage bill, will never be known because they can't remember it happening, a court heard.
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Levi Tihi, 25, of Penshurst, and Tyrone Brown, 32, of Hamilton, were drunk and high on ice and GHB when they rammed the Raglan Parade shopping centre on March 28.
The pair was filmed smoking an ice pipe, laughing and joking moments before the 2010 Ford ranger utility smashed through the doors of the plaza.
They drove around for a few minutes before attempting to leave through the north foyer.
But the vehicle became stuck and CCTV showed Tihi failing to reverse back into the plaza a number of times.
Brown exited the car wearing a homemade balaclava and attempted to give Tihi directions but the vehicle remained stuck.
Tihi could then be seen leaving the vehicle, donning a clown mask, before the pair swapped seats.
Brown drove through a number of support beams before reversing back into the plaza. The vehicle can then be seen travelling south, smashing through another set of doors and a concrete bollard.
The damage bill has continued to increase since the March offending and is now believed to exceed $180,000.
The pair pleaded guilty in the County Court on Tuesday to burglary and criminal damage.
Brown also pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and Tihi to driving while disqualified and possessing methamphetamine.
The court heard the pair was at a social gathering in Dunkeld on the night of March 28, consuming alcohol, methamphetamine and GHB.
Tihi then drove the Ford Ranger, which belonged to Brown's brother, for an hour-and-a-half before arriving in Warrnambool about 11pm.
Brown told police he remembered being at the gathering in Dunkeld and consuming GHB for the first time.
He then claimed he blacked out and the next thing he remembered was running down Raglan Parade with no shirt on.
Lawyer Christopher Terry told the court that in the days after the offending, Brown received a call from police while en route to a drug rehabilitation facility.
He said Brown attended a police station on request and immediately asked to view the CCTV footage from the plaza.
Mr Terry said police investigators noted that Brown "made zero attempt to shirk responsibility" and when showed the footage "appeared surprised and shocked".
The court heard that Brown was diagnosed post-offending with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar.
Brown told the court he was being medicated for the first time in his life and had recently spent time in a residential rehabilitation centre.
Kiernan Celestina, representing Tihi, said his client's memory of the event was "virtually nonexistent".
"(Tihi) was so drug affected that his view of what happened was cloudy," he said.
Mr Celestina said Tihi only became aware of "the extent of the damage to the plaza" while in custody.
But judge Gavan Meredith questioned how Tihi could not remember the events, despite being capable of driving more than an hour, acquiring a clown mask to conceal his identity and removing the vehicle's registration plates prior to the ram raid.
Mr Celestina said he understood Tihi's instructions were "not satisfactory to the court or the community at large".
"But (Tihi) instructs that his memory of the events is virtually nonexistent and the reason for that is the quantity of drugs he consumed at the social event," he said.
The court heard Tihi made a no comment interview to police.
Mr Celestina said the offending was "reckless" and the men did not obtain any financial advantage.
Tihi and Brown will be sentenced on November 5.
Judge Meredith ordered the pair be assessed for a community corrections order but told the court that "no inference (in terms of sentencing) should be drawn from that".
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