Joshua Dunstan, 28, pleaded guilty to four charges including theft, committing an offence while on bail and possessing a weapon at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Steve Kent told the court the Hoppers Crossing man and a co-offender reverse parked a car with false number plates into the delivery area of Ballan IGA at 4.10am on August 17.

The pair forced open a pedestrian door with a jamming bar and broke the lock, triggering the security alarm that was reported to police.

Leading Senior Constable Kent said Dunstan and the co-offender then used an angle grinder to force open the cigarette cabinet doors.

CCTV footage shows them loading multiple trolley loads of cigarettes into the car.

The court heard police arrived at the IGA at 4.19am and the offenders drove out in front of police in an erratic manner.

On searching the area, the Ballan sergeant located the car in a grass paddock after the offenders drove through a t-intersection into a mesh fence.

The offenders fled on food and most of the stolen cigarettes were located in and around the car.

The canine unit was called and located Dunstan and his co-offender lying and hiding in a paddock 150 metres from the crash.

During his arrest, police found a large timber handled knife in Dunstan's clothing.

Leading Senior Constable Kent said the stolen cigarettes were valued in excess of $10,000 and the offending had occurred while Dunstan was on bail.

Defence barrister Brett O'Sullivan told the court Dunstan had spent most of the last seven months in custody and the offending happened while he was on appeal bail.

Mr O'Sullivan said Dunstan's offending behaviour related to his methamphetamine addiction, but he had been abstinent from drugs during his time in custody and was motivated to complete rehabilitation.

"His father and his mother have been visiting him weekly and said they have seen a change in him," he said.

The court heard Dunstan had worked various jobs and had a supportive family who would continue to support him after his release.

"There has been an increase in offending in more recent years with his drug increase. If he addresses that it appears he has good prospects of rehabilitation," Mr O'Sullivan said.

Magistrate Ron Saines said Dunstan's offending was a serious example of high level dishonesty and high level burglary and theft.

"There can be no doubt this was a well thought out and premeditated job," he said.

"You attended with a jamming bar to gain access and an angle grinder, you absconded from the scene when police arrived and you decamped the car immediately.

"Your possession of a significant weapon adds to the seriousness of it. It is further aggravated that it happened while you were subject to appeal bail and had already been sentenced to a period of imprisonment."

Dunstan was sentenced to five months in jail including 55 days that had been served as pre-sentence detention.

"It does appear to me you have some prospects of rehabilitation and avoidance of crime in the future,' Mr Saines said.

"Your release from prison did not go well last time at all. If you allow yourself to be drawn back into illicit drug use or crime then you will find the criminal justice system will have a strong response of terms of imprisonment that are likely to be measured in years rather than months."

Dunstan will commence a community corrections order, that was imposed during a previous sentence in August, upon his release with a condition he complete 275 hours unpaid community work.