Thief of beloved dog “Poppy” gets jail time

The Ballarat Magistrates’ Court heard the ‘Bring Poppy Home’ Facebook page helped identify and locate Christopher Ballantyne, who stole Poppy from a Ballarat house on June 29 this year.

CCTV footage captured Ballantyne feeding Poppy through a fence before opening the gate and leading her into his car.

The footage was soon shared on social media with a number of tip offs being phoned into police, eventually leading police to Maryborough where Poppy and the accused were found.

During an interview Ballantyne denied allegations of stealing the dog and said he ‘can’t explain anything’ when shown the CCTV footage of him outside Poppy’s property.

He appeared via videolink in court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to stealing Poppy from the front yard of her family home and a string of other offences including trespass, theft of motor vehicles and committing an offence while on bail.

Following the incident in June Ballantyne was also charged with theft in August.

The court heard he was living in a caravan in Clunes with no water or electricity, and was utilising the facilities at a vacant holiday house nearby.

He then began stealing items including bedding and a towel because he was cold.

Ballantyne was also charged with the theft of two vehicles. On one occasion he stole a car in Magpie Street, crashing into a street sign before the owner began following him.

In an effort to try to evade the owner, Ballantyne overtook cars at 80km/h before dumping the car in a ditch.

He was found only 150 metres away.

When asked why he offended he told police he was “fed up with the way my life is at the moment.”

Ballantyne’s lawyer told the court the offending occurred in the context of homelessness.

She said Ballantyne had lived on the streets with no supports since the age of 15, and while she conceded the length of his criminal priors was lengthy, she argued these matters were less serious than others in the past.

In addition to the 102 days spent in pre-sentence detention, she urged the magistrate to consider a further short term of imprisonment.

Magistrate Ronald Saines was halfway through explaining to Ballantyne many members of the community had sympathy for people who were homeless when Ballantyne interrupted and said “I don’t see it as an excuse.”

“That’s exactly what I was going to say,” Mr Saines replied.

“Homelessness is only a small part of this … it’s continual criminal offending by you.”

He warned Ballantyne he would continue the cycle of prison and homelessness if he did not begin to change his ways.

Ballantyne was sentenced to a total term of five months on all matters, with the 102 days reckoned served. 

He received one months’ imprisonment for the theft of Poppy.