A 29-year-old Collie man was fined $200 and ordered to pay $50 in compensation in the Collie Magistrates Court earlier this month after pleading guilty to stealing mandarins from an unmanned fruit stall along the South Western Highway.
The court heard Colin William McCormick was in the back seat of a vehicle that stopped at the fruit stall in Donnybrook approximately 1.30pm on May 31.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Jo Morrissey said CCTV had captured McCormick collect $50 worth of mandarins from the stall before leaving without paying.
McCormick told the court he knew it was wrong and that it had been ‘a stupid thing to do’.
Magistrate Brian Mahon imposed a fine of $200 and ordered McCormick to pay $50 compensation for the mandarins to the stall owner.
Mr Mahon said he had also considered disqualifying McCormick’s driver’s licence, as a vehicle was used in the commission of the crime despite McCormick not being the driver, but decided to add no further punishment.
In other matters before the court, a 35-year-old Collie woman pleaded guilty to three offences after being caught driving without a license three times in five days.
Stacey Isobel Ugle appeared in court on December 12 to plead guilty to three charges of no authority to drive, all of which occurred between October 25 and October 29.
The court heard Ugle had never held a driver’s license.
Mr Mahon decided to adjourn Ugle’s sentencing until January 23 after Ugle told the court she would be facing another charge of no authority to drive after being stopped by police the previous day.
In a separate court hearing, a 39-year-old Collie woman had her convictions for three offences set aside by the court after she failed to receive paperwork informing her of her previous court appearance.
Elisha Gaye Robinson was convicted in her absence of failing to comply with police, possessing drug paraphernalia and possessing a prohibited weapon in relation to a traffic stop in Allanson on October 23 when she failed to appear in court on November 23.
Robinson applied to have the convictions set aside because she hadn’t received the paperwork informing her of her court appearance.
Robinson pleaded guilty to possessing an extendable baton and a glass smoking implement in the vehicle, for which she received fines of $400 for each offence.
Mr Mahon granted an adjournment of the case until January 23 so Robinson could receive legal advice for the remaining charge, as well as another failure to comply charge from August.