A Batemans Bay man jailed after stealing a car, driving another without consent and entering three others without permission between the South Coast and Southern Highlands, has received a severe dressing down from a magistrate.
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Alan Bruce Potts, 42, appeared in Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday, July 9, after pleading guilty to a string of motor vehicle, drug and property damage offences.
Police said Potts embarked on a crime spree on the weekend of June 23 and 24 when he drove off in a Mazda Tribune without the owner’s consent at a rural property in Bellawongarah.
Court papers showed Potts then dumped the car before stealing a Land Rover and damaging a fence while fleeing a property some 30 kilometres away in Fitzroy Falls.
Just before midnight on June 23 and in the early hours of June 24, residents from neighbouring properties in the area caught Potts after he had gained entry to two Land Rovers and a Nissan ute.
Without being offensive, you’re getting too old for this. There’s more to life than being locked up.
- Magistrate Doug Dick
He was arrested the following day after a short foot chase at a property in Batemans Bay.
The court heard Potts was on parole at the time of the offending and had an extensive criminal history, which Magistrate Doug Dick cited in his sentencing.
Mr Dick said Potts had 133 offences on his criminal record – a rap sheet he called “disgraceful”.
“Without being offensive, you’re getting too old for this,” Mr Dick said.
“There’s more to life than being locked up.”
Defence solicitor John Edmunds said Potts had accepted his parole would be revoked and that he could remain behind bars until August 2019.
Mr Edmunds asked that Mr Dick find special circumstances in his sentencing due to Potts’ drug and alcohol issues.
Potts was given an 18-month head sentence, with a non-parole period of nine months. He was also fined $600.
