A Dubbo tradie given work by his "good mate" stole his home security cameras after claiming he wasn't paid.
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Bradley Dallas, 25, represented himself in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to entering enclosed land without permission and larceny.
According to court documents, Dallas had met his friend through work as a tradie in 2021, and had even become close enough to live with him for a short time.
Knowing Dallas was struggling to find a job, his friend gave him a few days work. According to police he was paid and the two remained friends often working together at the same job sites.
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However in March, the pair were at the same worksite when Dallas approached his friend asking "when are you going to pay me that money?".
Unsure of what Dallas was talking about, he told him to come around to his home so they could sit down and go through their financial records.
Five days later, Dallas' friend left for work and retuned later that evening when he noticed his three security cameras were missing.
He looked at his security app linked to the CCTV, which showed Dallas grabbing the cameras with his hands disconnecting them from the wall.
Footage depicted on the camera in the rear yard of the property showed Dallas carrying the cameras through a nearby paddock before losing connection. Dallas is then spotted on video jumping his friend's fence - locked by padlocks - and grabbing the rear camera before it is disconnected from the power supply.
In court on Wednesday, when asked if he had returned the cameras, Dallas told Magistrate Gary Wilson he had "disposed" of them.
"We're pretty good mates," he told the court.
"He employed me for a few working days but never paid me for them," he said.
When Magistrate Wilson asked if stealing the cameras was a way to "get even" with his friend for not paying him, Dallas said not straight away.
The court heard two days after confronting his friend about not being paid, Dallas had attended his friends home and stole two of his pushbikes, which he said was "a way to get him to talk to me".
"At the time I was ... pretty sad," Dallas told the court.
Magistrate Wilson fined Dallas $350 for both offences, and ordered he compensate his friend $600 for the security cameras.
Zaarkacha Marlan
Court and crime reporter at the Daily Liberal. Formerly the sole journalist for the Nyngan Observer, Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.
Court and crime reporter at the Daily Liberal. Formerly the sole journalist for the Nyngan Observer, Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.
