UPDATED, September 30: A magistrate says a Camperdown man is lucky he didn't appear in a higher court after he broke into a residential home and crashed a car while high on ice, causing serious injuries.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Andrew Pullen, 37, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday to aggravated burglary, reckless conduct endangering serious injury and other offences.
On Friday he was jailed for 13 months, less the 330 days already served in custody on remand.
Magistrate Nunzio La Rosa said drugs had clearly been an issue in Pullen's life and it was a "grace of God" he was not standing trial in a higher court charged with culpable/dangerous driving causing death.
Mr La Rosa said Pullen's pre-sentence detention was not a sufficient sentence given the gravity of both the aggravated burglary and car crash, which left one of two passengers with five broken ribs, a collapsed lung and serious internal injuries.
Upon his release, Pullen will commence a 15-month community correction order.
Under the order he must complete 125 hours of unpaid community work, of which 40 can involve programs targeting road trauma awareness, and drug and mental health treatment.
The magistrate said if not for the man's guilty plea, he would have been sentenced to two years' jail with a non-parole period of 15 months.
Earlier, September 26: A Camperdown man broke into a couple's home and rummaged through their belongings while they slept just metres away, a court has heard.
Andrew Pullen, 37, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to aggravated burglary, theft and bail offences on Monday.
A prosecutor said the man was caught on CCTV stealing a packet of lollies from Camperdown's BP service station on November 1 last year about 12.30am.
The footage showed Pullen carrying two large bottles of bourbon.
He then attended a Manifold Street home where he grabbed a small hatchet from a shed before climbing through an unlocked window of the house.
Once inside, he rummaged through cupboards and drawers looking for something to steal.
The court heard a man and woman were asleep in a nearby bedroom.
They soon woke and located Pullen in a hallway with a torch. Despite being yelled at, the offender continued to rummage through the victims' belongings before he was ushered out of the house.
Pullen left through the front door and shut the window he'd climbed through before leaving the property.
The victims found the hatchet had been moved from the shed to the study and reported nothing was stolen but their belongings had been strewn throughout the house.
Police attended and seized the hatchet, as well as two bottles of bourbon which were left at the scene.
Pullen's DNA was located on the items, he was arrested three days later and remanded in custody.
At the time of the offending the man was already on bail for possessing 1.51 grams of methamphetamine, as well as charged with drug-driving which led to a collision on the Cobden-Warrnambool Road at Laang on July 29 last year.
On that occasion the vehicle was observed continually swerving across the road at fluctuating speeds for about 10 minutes.
Pullen drove the vehicle onto the wrong side of the road, travelling on a grassed median for about 300 metres before colliding with low-lining branches.
Police said the scene indicated he failed to take evasive action and collided with a large tree, causing the vehicle to swing 90 degrees and come to stop about one metre from the road.
Two passengers in the vehicle sustained five broken ribs, a collapsed lung and severe internal bruising.
The vehicle was towed from the scene.
IN OTHER NEWS
Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: