A 42-year-old man charged with stealing coke and iced coffee before allegedly backhanding a woman and sticking her head in a microwave oven has been granted bail.
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A police spokesman said the man was arrested on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, interviewed, charged and remanded in custody. He faces charges including two counts of theft and three counts of breaching a court order.
He appeared at the Warrnambool Magistrate's Court on Thursday, April 11 where he made a successful bail application with conditions.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge told the man to take the opportunity "seriously".
"You come before the court with a limited record, thankfully for you, and also a record that shows you've certainly had the capacity to live a law-abiding and productive life," he said.
"What I'm saying to you is that this is your opportunity to either step up and prove that you can comply with court orders which of course include intervention orders, bail orders, or whether you can't.
"If you can't, you will be arrested, brought back to court and it's a very simple matter then of revoking your bail and you staying in jail until everything's sorted out and of course the sentencing options are pretty narrow in that stage in the game as I'm sure you'll appreciate.
"What I'm saying to you is take this seriously. Don't breach your bail, don't breach the intervention orders."
He was ordered to appear at the Hamilton Magistrates Court on May 15.
The court heard that at 11pm Friday, April 5, the man attended the United petrol station in Hamilton where he was let in by an employee.
The man selected coke and iced coffee flavoured milk and went to the counter where he told the employee: "I'm stealing this stuff".
The employee and thief then jostled, before the offender was able to let himself out of the service station and flee.
On Tuesday, April 9, the 42-year-old went to a Hamilton address which he was banned from attending.
He slept on the couch, but woke up angry and aggressive.
A woman was preparing milk for children about 10am when she checked her purse and found $50 missing.
She confronted the man, which further angered him and he started yelling at her.
The woman told police the man put her head in a microwave oven before he backhanded her to her left cheek.
She suffered a red mark on her face.
Police were called and the man was arrested.
He is listed to appear in the Hamilton Magistrates Court on August 28 for the return of previously imposed bond.
There's questions being asked about bail laws after it was revealed on Wednesday the 21-year-old man accused of murdering Ballarat district woman Hannah McGuire was on bail for serious unrelated offences at the time of her alleged killing.
He's on charges including assault and burglary in the county court.
