Ballarat man jailed over 206 deception charges

The Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday heard Craig Pyke, who pleaded guilty to 206 counts of obtaining property by deception, obtained more than $12,000 from 21 local businesses in the CBD by searching for discarded receipts. 

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Sam Young said Pyke attended the Ballarat businesses searching for receipts discarded by customers over a six-year period.

Collecting the receipts, Pyke would enter the various stores and bag the items on the receipts before heading to the refunds counter and asking for a full refund on the items. 

In a police interview Pyke said he would search for receipts every second day or when ever he needed extra cash. He told police he spent much of his wage at the time on the pokies and, while he had understood what he was doing was illegal, he had “no other option”.

He also said if asked for identification at any of the stores, he would “change it around” so he couldn’t be identified.

Representing himself, Pyke said he has had a gambling problem for the past 30 years with numerous failed attempts to tackle the problem.

“It was a matter of getting through to the next pay day … this was the only way I’ve been able to do it,” he told the court. He said he would ultimately like help to deal with his problem.

“I need to be forced to do something,” he said.

Describing Pyke’s offending as “systematic” and “premeditated theft”, magistrate Cynthia Toose said it warranted a period of imprisonment, but added a Community Corrections Order with specific orders could help address his gambling problems.

Pyke was sentenced to three months imprisonment to be followed by a 12-month CCO with orders to complete treatment and rehabilitation for gambling, in addition to repaying the $12,115.08.

He was also sentenced to one-month imprisonment, to be served concurrently, for breaching a suspended sentence.