A CAREER criminal who convinced an elderly man to purchase items at a hardware store before stealing his bank card and withdrawing thousands of dollars in cash, was jailed today.
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Shelley Ann McBain, 37, of Ballarat North pleaded guilty in Ballarat Magistrates Court to a long list of charges including obtaining property by deception and shop-theft.
The court heard that on October 17 last year McBain and a co-accused took an elderly man who they'd met only days earlier to Dahlsens Hardware in Sebastopol where they made him buy a number of products and then stole his bank card.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Michelle Kilburn said McBain's co-accused made it look like he was putting the card back in the victims wallet, yet never did so.
Over the next five days McBain used the card on numerous occasions at ATMs all over Ballarat to withdraw close to $2,500 from the victims bank account.
In separate offences during early December 2012, McBain stole more than $6,000 worth of toys and electrical equipment from Myer's toy department.
Senior Constable Kilburn said the pair entered the toy department on three separate occasions before stealing toys including remote controlled cars and barbie dolls and exiting through Myer's Sturt Street entrance.
In another theft from Myer, McBain entered the perfume section of the department store and stole perfume to the value of $300.
McBain's defence lawyer David Tamanika said his client had a long history of deception related matters and noted her behaviour was often "highly distressing and highly deceptive."
He said a heroin addiction was the underlying cause of the offending.
"The amount of heroin she was using on a daily basis couldn't be sustained without without committing these acts," Mr Tamanika said.
In sentencing McBain, Magistrate Peter Couzens said her actions were "insidious" and he was highly skeptical that she wouldn't re-offend.
Already serving time for other matters, McBain will serve an extra three in months jail on top of her current sentence. She was also fined $500.