Warrnambool man's appeal dismissed in Warrnambool County Court

Dominic Kelly, 42, pleaded guilty last year in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to driving and deception-related offences and was jailed for eight months.

On Wednesday he appealed against the severity of the sentence in Warrnambool County Court.

Kelly's lawyer Amara Hughes admitted the man was a "frequent flyer" with an extensive criminal history.

"That is not shied away from," she said, adding her client knew he was "in a revolving door" and would stay there if he continued using drugs.

But Ms Hughes said the sentence should be reduced, citing Kelly's early guilty plea in the magistrates court, conditions in custody due to COVID-19 and the offending being a relatively low example of the charges.

She said upon his release Kelly would live in Ararat to "build some distance from where the offences were conducted" and rebuild his relationships with his children.

The appeal came just 13 days before Kelly was expected to be released from jail.

Prosecutor Richard Pirrie said Kelly had more court appearances "than some of the junior bar".

"He's had 19 court appearances and something like 137 prior convictions, and that doesn't include road traffic matters," he said.

Mr Pirrie said the magistrate's sentence of eight months' jail was appropriate.

Judge Gregory Lyon said Kelly was sentenced on charges of theft, possessing cannabis, handling stolen goods and three counts of driving while disqualified.

He said the offending contravened an 18-month community correction order which included 200 hours of unpaid community work.

The court heard Kelly had completed just nine of those hours.

Judge Lyon said the man had 28 pages of criminal history involving similar offending, including seven priors for driving disqualified, six for car theft and four for unlicensed driving.

He said the eight-month jail sentence was "entirely reasonable and should not be reduced".

The appeal was dismissed.

Kelly is expected to be released from custody on February 7.

The magistrates court last year heard Kelly was caught driving without a licence three times between May and July. On one occasion he stole $59 of petrol from a Warrnambool BP petrol station.

Then on June 1, a stolen Ford Ranger was seen parked on Cobden-Warrnambool Road in Naringal. It was recovered the next day and taken to the Warrnambool police station where Kelly's fingerprints were locate inside.

Police then attended a property where Kelly was known to reside and a search uncovered personal items belonging to the owner of the stolen vehicle.

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