A man who stole a quad bike and other items from rural proprieties around Goulburn has been jailed.
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Bronson Leigh Collins, 29, of Goulburn, pleaded guilty to break and enter in company, having stolen goods and possessing a prohibited drug when he appeared by audio-visual link in Goulburn Local Court on Wednesday.
Collins and another man broke into various properties in the district in February this year stealing a large array of items, police facts stated.
Between 8.30pm and 10.11pm on February 19, Collins and another man broke into a shed at the Royal Oak Pastoral Company on the Crookwell Road and stole several Ryobi power tools (grinders and drills) and an ammunition reloading press.
Around the same period (February 17 to 19), Collins and the other man also entered a property on Annies Lane, Woodhouslee and stole a Yamaha 35 Quad Bike. They put it on a box trailer to steal it along with an assortment of power tools and a Davey fire-fighting pump.
Then at another property on Rossiville Rd, they broke into a shed and stole power tools and a Heiniger shearing- hand piece. Also around this time, they entered a property on Onlsow Rd, Kingsdale, and stole a Husqvarna chainsaw and spray-painting equipment from sheds and shipping containers.
After viewing ‘Farmcam’ footage from one of the properties and making other inquiries, police arrested Collins on February 22 at a Goulburn address. They located some of the stolen property at this place.
They also found 0.2g of methyl amphetamine in his wallet. The quad bike was later recovered at an address in Goulburn.
In court, Collins’ solicitor Sam Rowlands said his client had been in custody since February. Collins had described it as the “worst experience of his life.”
”He was seriously assaulted while in custody at Goulburn Jail and then placed in protective custody and transferred to another prison,” Mr Rowland said.
“He was raised in Crookwell and moved to Goulburn and fell in with the wrong crowd. He was using ice every day at the time of committing these offences.
“He has been drug free for three months while in jail and he is working to overcome his addiction.”
Magistrate Geraldine Beattie said the crime spree was “very serious.”
“It is of great concern. People need to feel safe on their properties. You broke into sheds at these places and stole power tools, shearing equipment and a quad bike,” Ms Beattie said.
“Up to five separate victims have been affected by these crimes.”
She sentenced him to a total of 20 months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine months.