A 21-YEAR-OLD will have to wait to be sentenced after he and another man allegedly broke into two Clunes businesses during a late-night crime spree.
Terry Parker was said to have been encouraged by the other man to commit the crimes, with his defence submitting that Parker has an intellectual disability.
Parker, from Clunes, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary and two of theft.
Defence lawyer Amanda Hurst said the co-accused was an acquaintance who had a significant criminal history including serving multiple terms in prison.
She said that Parker had not initially been involved in the break-ins, but that the other man went into the first premises and then came back and got him.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Ivan Blomeley said AAG Property Consultants and the Clunes Newsagency had both fallen victim to thieves on the night of April 15 this year.
He said that Parker and the other man entered both premises by smashing windows and stole items including laptops, a stereo and five mobile phones.
Magistrate Michelle Hodgson adjourned the case to enable a pre-sentence report to be compiled.
“Even though it is your first time before the court it is not uncommon for people to get jail sentences for burglaries like this,” she said.
Parker is due back in court on September 12.