A Sebastopol man has been fined $500 for a series of offences including the theft of a firearms licence from a Meredith pub.
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Stephen Bruce Payne pleaded guilty to the offences on Tuesday.
The Ballarat Magistrates' Court was told the victim was in Meredith's Royal Hotel on the afternoon of December 4 last year when he left his wallet in the TAB area.
The court was told it contained several items including a cheque for Bannockburn Tyre Service and a firearms licence.
Magistrate Letizia Torres heard that Payne was caught on CCTV leaving the pub with the wallet in distinctive orange clothing - and was seen getting in a vehicle with the name of a Ballarat painting and decorating business on the side.
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The court was told an unidentified female returned the wallet to the Royal Hotel several days later, apologising on behalf of a friend, but the cheque and firearms licence were still missing.
On December 22, police executed a search warrant on Payne's home in Albert Street, Sebastopol, where they found the two items as well as orange clothing identical to the garments the offender was wearing in the CCTV footage.
Payne told the court he assumed everything was back in the wallet when his friend returned it to Meredith.
He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge related to an incident where he was found driving without a licence in Ballarat.
"You do have a terrible history - and I will impose an aggregate fine of $500," Magistrate Torres said.
"I'll make no other orders but you have to stay off the drugs.
"You have to stay on your opiate replacement program - and if you want to drive you have to go get a licence."
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