Rare non-conviction issued for stealing $40,000.00 worth of goods

A 33 year old man from Blaxland was charged with an offence of stealing from vessel port. This offence carries a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment. 

At the time, he was working on the ports, conducting maintenance with the co-accused who was his step-father. The man looked up to his step-father and never questioned him when asked to conduct any works. 

The co-accused was involved in a dispute with the victim in the matter and on one occasion, advised Mr Faraj’s client to move certain belongings from the port and take them to Cokatoo Island. The victim noticed that $40,000.00 worth of tools were missing from his port and called the police. 

Mr Faraj’s client was charged with this offence and in court, Mr Faraj made lengthy submissions on his behalf, explaining the circumstances and instructions he was under. 

Regardless of the fact that a non-conviction penalty is not appropriate for this charge given the high value of stolen goods, the court was persuaded by arguments to issue a non-conviction penalty on this occasion. 

This result went down as one of the first and very few non-conviction penalties for this offence.

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