A Portland man who stole and torched two cars, including a hire vehicle and a rare Ford, will not serve another day in jail.
Marcus Edwards, 31, of Silvester Street, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Tuesday where he accepted a sentence indication of 157 days' jail and entered guilty pleas to a string of charges.
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Magistrate Simon Guthrie said the man had already served the 157 days in custody on remand before being released from custody and residing at residential rehabilitation facility Odyssey House for more than 200 days.
"It was tempting to give more (jail) time but the 206 days have been taken into account," he said.
Mr Guthrie said Edwards would also be placed on a community correction order and that his licence would be disqualified for 18 months.
He will be formally sentenced on Friday.
The court heard Edwards' offending started on June 14 last year when he attended Avis Car Rental in Portland with a woman, who he asked to rent a 2019 Suzuki sedan because he had a disqualified Learner's permit.
The woman agreed and paid for the rental car with a credit card belonging to another woman without her permission.
Edwards failed to return the car and it was reported stolen on June 19.
A tracking device attached to the sedan revealed its last known location was in bush area near Bridgewater Lakes Road.
The court heard the vehicle later collided with a tree, dislodging the GPS and leaving behind debris.
Police patrolling Cape-Nelson Road on June 28 found the vehicle dumped and burnt out.
Then on July 14, Edwards stole a maroon sedan from an associate at a hotel in Shepparton.
He was clocked at 164km/h in the stolen vehicle before it was dumped at Warrnambool's bunnings carpark.
Two months later, he intentionally torched a rare and unique Ford.
He filmed the vehicle on fire at Nelson's Swan Lake campground and send it to a friend with the caption: "Yikes".
Edwards also pleaded guilty to bail offences, including breaching curfew.
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