A CONVICTED sex offender was fined $250 by the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court after he failed to inform Victoria Police of changes to his internet presence.
On Monday morning, the court heard the man had failed to disclose to police he had signed up for online shopping accounts and online dating sites.
The man claimed he was not aware he needed to inform the authorities, and the email address used to sign up to the accounts was the one he had registered with police.
‘Halfway to dead’
A MOE man was fined $500 and disqualified from driving for 23 months after he was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol while looking to buy cigarettes on 23 October.
The man was intercepted by police driving east on Albert Street, Moe and taken to Moe Police Station where he recorded a blood alcohol content of 0.236.
“This is a very high reading; you are dead at (a blood alcohol content reading of) 0.4,” Magistrate Clive Alsop said.
“At 0.23, you are more than halfway to being dead with that amount of alcohol in your system.”
The court heard at the time, the man had been drinking as he was emotionally distressed because his ex-wife had been refused a visa to live in Australia, his mother had been diagnosed with cancer and he did not have a job.
Shoplifter escapes conviction
A TRARALGON woman has escaped a shoplifting conviction with a 12-month good behaviour bond at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The court heard the 26 year-old woman, who faced four charges of shoplifting at Stockland Plaza Traralgon on 12 December, had “embarked on the enterprise by degrees”.
The single mother of three pleaded guilty to taking items from four stores, namely Kmart, Coles, the Reject Shop and Priceline Pharmacy valued at almost $300.
The items found in her possession were said to be mostly Christmas-type gifts for children.
The court heard she had been allegedly shopping with a friend and sharing a trolley.
‘Punishment enough’
AN 18 year-old Latrobe Valley man was convicted and sentenced to one month in jail with a 12-month suspended sentence after he was found guilty of stealing his ex-boss’ motorbikes valued at more than $10,000 each.
In the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Monday, the court heard the man, an apprentice plumber, had conspired with a friend to steal his former employer’s motorbikes from his Yallourn North property to allegedly “get back at his boss” for throwing a drill at him.
The man and his now-estranged friend stole the Kawasaki and Yamaha motorbikes from the ex-boss’ property on 11 December and sold them in exchange for cash and drugs.
However, the man was then allegedly assaulted by his ex-boss and several other people a few days later on 14 December, where he was effectively subject to “waterboarding” torture.
The man’s defense counsel said his client had learnt his lesson after the act of “terrible revenge” and knew he had made “a terrible mistake”.
In handing down the sentence, Magistrate Clive Alsop said he would have normally imposed a more severe penalty, but the man had already “been through the ringer”.
The man was also given four months to pay compensation of $5000.
