TWO men went around to a rival roofing contractor’s house to steal tools so they could do extra jobs on the side, a court was told.Robert Gregory Williamson, 36, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday where he also faced charges over a branch of a large cannabis plant found in his laundry trough.He pleaded guilty to charges including theft from a motor vehicle and possessing cannabis.Police prosecutor Senior Constable Steve Kent said Williamson and another man went to the home of a rival roofing contractor on the night of May 17 last year, and stole tools off the back of the victim’s utility.Among thieved items they took two pressure hoses, a spray gun, a two-stroke leaf blower and a shovel.An off-duty police officer was nearby and caught the pair in the act.Then on December 20 last year police raided Williamson’s Sebastopol home where they found a “substantially sized” cannabis branch.When interviewed by police, Williamson said he found the branch and knew it was cannabis.Defence lawyer Shelley Buchecker said most of the tools had been recovered, and that her client had taken the prescription drug Xanax before the theft.“His judgement was certainly off,” she said.Magistrate Kay Robertson fined him $1000 with conviction.