Justin Krause, 36, pleaded guilty in Shepparton County Court to burglary, theft of firearms, two counts of theft, obtaining property by deception, obtaining financial advantage by deception, and drug possession.
The court heard Krause, who was homeless at the time and living in Greater Shepparton, forced open a gun safe in a shed at a Shepparton East property before stealing two guns — a Frederick Williams 12 gauge shotgun and a Boito 12 gauge shotgun — in the early hours of November 2 last year.
He also took shotgun ammunition.
While also at the property, Krause entered a vehicle and stole three sets of keys, two wallets, $200 cash, a credit card and various forms of identification, including a gun licence.
About 3.37am, Krause used the stolen credit card to buy $69.50 worth of items from a Shepparton service station, as well as using it to make nine payments to AfterPay, totalling $376.49.
He also withdrew $1000 from an ATM with the stolen card.
Krause was arrested at a friend’s cabin at a caravan park in Orrvale the following day.
The Frederick Williams 12 gauge shotgun was recovered from the cabin.
The other gun has not been found.
A pat-down search of Krause found 25.7g of the drug 1,4-butanediol, a wallet with the victim’s identification in it, and a handwritten note containing the victim’s bank account details.
Analysis of Krause’s phone found he made offers to sell guns and ammunition for cash or drugs on the day the break-in occurred.
The court was also told Krause had been on bail for other matters at the time of the offending, and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
When asked by the judge where the second gun was, Krause’s defence barrister Lauren Bull said her instructions were her client “didn’t sell it himself, but it has been sold”.
Ms Bull said Krause had grown up in a family that provided him with drugs when he was a teenager, and that he had not “learnt how to be in the community for a long period without drugs”.
She also handed up a letter from Krause in which he spoke of his own psychological analysis of himself.
Ms Bull said her client had been living on the river at Shepparton and had lost everything when the floods occurred in October last year.
In sentencing Krause, Judge Geoffrey Chettle said he was a “long-term perpetual thief” who was “basically using ice all the time and going in and out of jail”.
“His criminal history is extraordinary — mostly theft, burglary, break and enter and like offences in Victoria and NSW,” Judge Chettle said.
He noted Krause’s prospects of rehabilitation depended entirely on him ceasing to use drugs.
Krause was sentenced to 20 months in prison, with a non-parole period of 14 months.
Twelve months of the sentence were for the theft of the gun, while jail for the other charges made up the rest of the sentence.
The 203 days he had already spent in pre-sentence detention counted as time already served on his sentence.
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