Joseph Gersbach, 38, and Annette Bennett, 35, shoplifting a vacuum cleaner, go on shopping spree with stolen credit card

Trangie's Joseph Gersbach, 38, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on December 7 and pleaded guilty to one charge of shoplifting and six charges of obtaining property by deception.

In the same court, his partner Annette Bennett, 35, also pleaded guilty on December 2 to two counts of larceny, two counts of shoplifting, one count of stolen goods in personal custody and one count of disposing stolen property. She was the co-accused in the shoplifting incident and the main accused in the deception incident.

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According to court documents, Gersbach and Bennett were shopping in electronics store JB HI-FI at Orana Mall about 12.50 pm on February 28 last year.

The couple were in the store's vacuum section when they picked up a Miele RX2 Robo vacuum worth $1700 and placed it in their trolley.

They began walking towards the registry in the middle of the store when Bennett picked up a $4 pack of batteries from a shelf in the DVD section. She then proceeded to pay for the batteries at the counter.

The court was told Gersbach and Bennett flashed the $4 battery receipt towards the security guard and left the store without paying for the vacuum.

On March 16, when store authorities conducted a stocktake, they noticed the Miele vacuum was missing. The store's CCTV footage revealed the shoplifting incident and the couple, who were recognised by a staff member due to their past stealing incidents in the store.

Police obtained the footage two days later, as well as an account of the incident from the staff member. Police also recognised Gersbach and Bennett due to past shoplifting incidents.

On a separate occasion, the couple were in the Commercial Hotel's poker room about 2.30pm on March 21 last year when they stole someone's wallet.

Gersbach and Bennett watched the victim playing on a poker machine leave their belongings at the machine. Police said Bennett grabbed the victim's phone and wallet and put them down the front of her trousers.

The court heard the couple made no efforts to find the owner of the phone and wallet or hand the property to bar staff.

Following the theft, Gersbach and Bennett visited multiple stores in Dubbo Square including Coles and Kmart, where they fraudulently spent $1107.25 using the victim's card.

In court, Gersbach's defense lawyer said he committed the crimes to fund his drug habit. The lawyer then gestured to the back of the court where his partner, Bennett, was seated and said she had been to rehab to get rid of her own drug habit. The lawyer added this encouraged Gersbach to get clean and he was no longer using 'ice'.

Magistrate Gary Wilson subsequently sentenced Gersbach to an 18-month community corrections order for shoplifting and obtaining property by deception.

The court also heard Bennett received a 12-month community corrections orders for her crimes.

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