Steven Demetriou has been sentenced to three months’ jail after pleading guilty to a series of thefts, including multiple bottle shop heists across Melbourne, and telling a magistrate he preferred immediate imprisonment over a community corrections order.
Demetriou appeared at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, where he admitted to stealing thousands of dollars worth of alcohol from Dan Murphy’s stores and other retailers during March. He was in custody during the proceedings.
The court heard he stole $2018 worth of alcohol from a Dan Murphy’s in Sydney Road, Fawkner on March 9, followed by a second theft the next day at a Dan Murphy’s in Essendon, taking vodka, Jameson and scotch valued at nearly $500.
He also stole from a Dan Murphy’s in Ascot Vale, with total alcohol thefts exceeding $1500.
Beyond alcohol, Demetriou also admitted stealing a $1000 display laptop from a store in Taylors Lakes and $756 worth of goods from Supercheap Auto in Sunshine.
His lawyer Richard Revill told the court Demetriou had a “longstanding heroin addiction” and had experienced homelessness, including periods living in caravan parks.
He sought a “discounted” sentence, citing his client’s early guilty plea and the fact the offending “didn’t involve any actual violence or threatening behaviour.”
Demetriou also made a direct request to the court to avoid supervision. Magistrate David Langton noted: “Straight sentence, no corrections order,” saying it left him with “little option” but to impose immediate imprisonment for the “substantial shop steals.”
Demetriou was convicted and sentenced to three months’ jail, with 41 days already served in pre-sentence detention.
Source: Herald Sun.
