A HORSHAM man has been handed a fine after a plan to steal a Playstation Four console escalated beyond his control.
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Benjamin Spitalar, 41, faced the Horsham Magistrates' Court on Thursday, pleading guilty to theft charges.
On Friday, 28, August, 2020, Spitalar was entrusted with the keys to a unit the victim lived in, and was asked to look after the residence while he was away.
Later that day Spitalar, along with two co-accused, a 30-year-old woman and her partner, arranged to take a Playstation Four console from the victim's house.
At 2.49am on Saturday, August 29, Spitalar alongside the co-accused, removed a Playstation Four console and two controllers, a vacuum cleaner and head, six android chargers, a maxi cosi stroller, bluetooth speaker and a quantity of food from the residence.
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The accused placed the items into two backpacks and on a blue removalists trolley.
At 4.21am the three left the unit and moved the stolen items to a co-accused address. CCTV camera footage revealed Spitalar returning to the unit at 7.58am later that morning to return the blue removalist trolley.
Upon returning to the residence, the victim discovered the items had been stolen and contacted Spitalar, who retrieved all of the stolen goods and returned them to the victim.
The victim told his de-facto partner, who reported the incident to the police.
Spitalar was arrested at 5.31pm on October 7.
An interview was conducted at Horsham police station during which Spitalar made a full admission to the theft, and arranging for the co-accused to attend the victims address to steal the items.
Spitalar said he only wanted to steal the Playstation, which he believed originally belonged to a friend, and that the co-accused "went stupid" while inside the victim's unit.
Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt withdrew the charges relating to the theft of all other items except the Playstation console and controllers.
Spitalar also faced two charges of possession of less than a gram of cannabis on March 20, 2021, and April 15, 2021.
The court was told Spitalar had intended to make amends for the theft and provide the victim with goods of his own.
He had also been self-medicating with cannabis due to chronic pain.
Mr Klestadt acknowledged Spitalar's remorse for the crime and handed him a fine of $500.
"You are not a policeman, so if someone you know does something wrong you are not entitled to make it right again," Mr Klestadt said.
"If you engage with illegal drugs, everytime the police find you with that stuff you will be back in court. One day you may be found with a lot of the stuff."
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