A man will spend Christmas in jail because he stole $12.30 worth of lollies from a Dubbo business.
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Serial offender Dewyane John Hill took two packets of Allen's Frogs Alive and one bag of Starburst Babies from the BP service station on Erskine Street on October 26.
In a statement of agreed facts presented in court, police said the 41-year-old Dubbo man had previously been convicted of 16 stealing offences, 11 break and enters, three intimidation charges and 10 bail breaches.
Hill was "consistently before the court", "becoming worse with time" and did "not appear to be learning from his mistakes", police said.
The disability support pension recipient pleaded guilty to the lone larceny charge and in court it was revealed that Hill was on parole when he stole from BP.
In Dubbo Local Court last week Hill's legal representative said his client lived with a cognitive impairment, however he did not know what the condition was.
"He's had a highly difficult life...it's a minor level of reoffending," Hill's legal representative said.
The court heard after police spoke with Hill, the $12.30 owing to BP was paid back to the business.
Magistrate Gary Wilson said Hill was on multiple bonds which were not due to expire until 2020.
"You have an extremely lengthy criminal history," magistrate Wilson said.
"You have no regard at all for the law," he told Hill.
Magistrate Wilson said based on what he sees in court, thefts from the BP store now appeared to be a "weekly occurrence".
He expressed frustration at the "amount of people who treat servos as drive-throughs without paying" and said a message needed to be sent to the community that stealing would not be tolerated.
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Hill's record and repeat offending meant no other sentencing option other than jail would be an appropriate form of punishment, magistrate Wilson said.
Hill was convicted and sentenced to two months in jail.
One of his supporters cried as he was escorted from the court and another urged Hill to "stay strong".
Hill yelled abuse as he walked from court and said "$12, shockin bra".
According to the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data, there were 369 reported instances of people stealing from a retail store in the Dubbo region between July 2018 and June 2019.
