Michelle Elliott, 22, appeared in the Ballarat Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. 

A police prosecutor told the court on April 20 last year, Elliot and her co-accused spotted an 8x6 single axel trailer on a Golden Point nature strip. The $2000 trailer was later advertised and sold on Gumtree.

The next day, Elliott’s co-accused allegedly stole another trailer, worth $2000, from a Golden Point property. When advertised on Gumtree, police organised to meet with Elliott and the co-accused at the Brewery Tap Hotel in Warrenheip, under the guise of purchasing the trailer.

The police prosecutor said when the vehicle belonging to Elliott was searched in the sting, the “broken-off trailer lock was located in the boot, alongside two large pairs of bolt cutters”. 

Elliott’s defence lawyer successfully argued for an adjourned undertaking – similar to a good behaviour bond – on the basis of her youth, lack of prior history, and full admissions to police which “acknowledged the seriousness of offending”. 

The defence counsel said at the time, Elliott was taking drugs and couch surfing, after her three children were placed in the care of family.

Magistrate Alan Spillane told Elliott she needed to “use her brain in the future, instead of getting involved in this sort of nonsense”. 

“But I accept you were almost certainly going through a difficult time, people do crazy things where they're not completely in charge of the factors of their life,” he said. 

Elliott is required to pay $300 to the court fund, and provide a total of $4200 in restitution for the unrecoverable stolen goods.