A teenager has been jailed over the theft of an $800 mobile phone.
A TEENAGER has been jailed for 18 months after he robbed a man of his $800 mobile phone, which also breached a previous suspended sentence.
Patrick Craig Meizys, 18, from Delacombe, appeared in the dock of Ballarat Magistrates Court today, where he nodded as the magistrate gave reasons for the sentence.
The court heard the robbery, committed outside Central Square Shopping Centre on May 9, had breached a previous 10 month suspended sentence handed out over a crime spree committed just after his 18th birthday in March.
Among those offences, Meizys and two others broke into a nursing home on Gillies Street, where Meizys walked through several bedrooms and stole a mobile phone while the owner was asleep.
Magistrate Peter Couzens said that although the offending was serious, Meizys was the victim of a difficult upbringing.
"Through no fault of your own, you do not have a the benefit of a stable home and a productive education and then you got involved in drugs," he said.
"The hardest thing for you (when you get out of jail) will be to keep away from those you've taken drugs with."
Mr Couzens fixed a non-parole period of nine months, meaning that Meizys, who has been in custody for 190 days, could be released as early as January next year.
Meizys had pleaded guilty to one count of robbery, and was re-sentenced over charges including burglary, theft and intentionally damaging property.
"This type of behaviour you engaged in is totally unacceptable, and not just because it breaks the law but because of the impact on the community," Mr Couzens said.