I didn't know what to do, I was hungry and homeless and a friend pressured me to buy things.
- Evidence in Bathurst Local Court
A MAN who used a credit card he found to purchase more than $867 in goods has been convicted of larceny and dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
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Matthew Phillip Logan, 31, of Forest Place was not in the court room when he was sentenced in Bathurst Local Court last week.
His solicitor Peter Ringbauer said his client had been at court earlier but had left to take medicine. He said he had no objection to the facts and record being taken.
Mr Ringbauer said his client had a complex mental health issues including complex PTSD and wanted the matter to be finalised.
He said his client was under financial and other stress at the time of the offending and was also confused, telling police he was homeless.
"It was hard to comprehend what was going on," Mr Ringbauer said.
Police facts tendered to the court told how between September 5 and 7 this year Logan had used a credit card which wasn't his to purchase property worth $867.84.
Logan did not know the person who owned the credit card. The court heard she had lost it while shopping in Bathurst.
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Logan found the card and then used it to dishonestly obtain benefit by deception.
He told police he found the credit card on the ground and, knowing it wasn't his, used it at various locations utilising "tap and go".
Among the transactions were purchases at the Knickerbocker and Oxford hotels, CTC tobacco shop, Coles Express and Mr Fish and Chips.
After the accused used the credit card at the Dudley Hotel on September 7, he dropped the card which was then found by a staff member who located the rightful owner on September 11.
A witness who worked at one of the businesses where the card was used identified the accused via CCTV and told a friend who knew the card's owner.
That witness later saw the accused down the street and he asked him if he had found a credit card.
When Logan said he had, the victim said to him "you spent all the money".
Logan said to him: "I didn't know what to do, I was hungry and homeless and a friend pressured me to buy things."
Police were called and the accused agreed to walk to the police station with the witness. On the way there he said to the witness: "I won't run, I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry."
When they arrived at the police station, officers cautioned the accused and he made full admissions to the offences, saying he was aware it was not his money to spend. He was subsequently charged by police with the offences.
On the larceny charge, magistrate Kevin Hockey convicted Logan. fining him $300. On the second count (dishonestly obtain benefit by deception) he was convicted and placed on a 12-month community corrections order.
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