UPDATE, Wednesday, April 10
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A Ballarat East man accused of performing a string of robberies has been convicted and jailed.
Magistrate Ron Saines sentenced Damien Gallagher to one year and five months prison on Wednesday, with a non-parole period of 10 months, after he was found guilty on three charges - two burglaries and one theft from a shop.
Gallagher has already served 251 days in custody.
Previously:
The defence lawyer for a 29-year-old man who allegedly broke into the Sebastopol Bowling Club has argued there's not enough forensic evidence to tie him to a number of burglaries.
Ballarat East man Damien Gallagher appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Informant Detective Senior Constable Mark Howard told the court in the early hours of April 28 last year, police believe Gallagher used a pickaxe to gain access to Alfredton Hair and Beauty via the front door's bottom glass panel, before stealing a money container.
There was CCTV shown during the hearing of a man smashing the window of the shop.
Police allege Gallagher also targeted IGA Midvale, Delacombe's Wiltshire Takeaway and Sebastopol Bowling Club on the same night.
Defence lawyer Amanda Sharpley argued that there was no case to answer in reference to charges relating to Alfredton Hair and Beauty and the Sebastopol Bowling Club, and a break-in two days later at the the Midlands Golf Club.
"These three incidents rely on the CCTV footage, there is no forensic evidence which links Mr Gallagher to these burglaries," she said.
"There are no witnesses which identify him being involved ... CCTV footage shows a person or persons, in respect of the Midlands Golf Club, wearing clothing which obscures their identity."
Detective Senior Constable Howard said at the IGA, the Ballarat East man had used the pickaxe to open the front door open, damage cupboards and force the cigarette cabinet open. Police have stated the accused man's DNA was found on the torch after forensic analysis.
The court heard a Good Friday collection tin, which the man allegedly stole from Wiltshire Takeaway, was located in Mount Clear. Sergeant Lance Dorning told the court his fingerprint analysis had matched a print taken from the tin to the Ballarat East man.
Magistrate Ron Saines said to him, it seemed like "there is nothing wrong with a tribunal of fact - this court or a jury - considering evidence of similarity between two occasions without engaging in coincidence reasoning".
The accused will return to court on April 10.
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