Man jailed after crime spree to fuel drug habit

Connor Mulcahy, 25, was sentenced on the Online Magistrates' Court on Monday after pleading guilty to more than 20 charges.

The offending including driving offences and thefts to support his drug habit that took place while on bail between periods of imprisonment throughout 2019 and 2020.

The court heard Mulcahy had served a 12-month prison sentence until July 2019 before his offending recommenced in November 2019.

He was remanded in custody until a magistrate gave him a chance on bail in February 2020, but returned to offending in April.

Defence barrister Luke McPhie said there was a need to break the cycle for a man who keeps going in and out of custody without supports in the community.

He submitted a combination of imprisonment and a community corrections order would be an appropriate sentence

"It is more of a risk for him to released on a straight sentence without court assisted support in the community."

Mulcahy was driving unlicensed and fleeing the police in April when he crashed into a paddock fence and ran from the scene, leaving three passengers trapped in the vehicle in darkness.

He targeted a number of properties in Mount Clear, Mount Helen and Buninyong in June to support his methamphetamine habit.

At one point an 11-year-old saw Mulcahy trying to enter the family's home, causing him to flee.

Other charges relate to being found in a stolen car, petrol theft, possession of stolen items and possession of a folding knife.

Magistrate Ron Saines said Mulcahy's situation was at the same time both complex and 'dead simple'. He said the complexity was in the difficulty for someone to come out of prison and remain abstinent from drugs, as intentions to stay away from drugs upon release can quickly break down.

"The simplicity is for as long as you are using drugs you are going to be in the criminal justice system."

Mr Saines said Mulcahy had trashed opportunities he had been given by the court in the past to engage with treatment, including in February when he was released on bail on the Court Integrated Services Program.

He said his sentence needed to send a strong message of specific deterrence.

"As long as you keep interfering with the safety, property and well-being of the public you will receive longer periods in jail," he said.

Mulcahy was sentenced to a total of nine months' imprisonment, with 174 days marked as time already served. He was disqualified from driving for nine months and will be required to complete a 15-month community corrections order upon his release from prison.

"You are at the highest risk of re-offending," Mr Saines said. "You have a big task ahead of you but you have job skills and a residential opportunity."

Mulcahy will return to court for judicial monitoring in February and will be required to undergo drug treatment and programs to assist in avoiding re-offending.

"If you continue to trash opportunities you will be accountable by presentation before me," Mr Saines said.