"OFF the rails" and high on drugs is how a man was described in court, after he stole 72 litres of petrol from a service station.
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Andrew Roekeroe McLeod, 40, of Vale Road, South Bathurst appeared by audio-visual link from prison to Bathurst Local Court on December 20, 2023 to be sentenced for dishonestly obtaining property by deception.
McLeod went to the BP service station on Sydney Road in Kelso just before 4am on June 8, 2023 to fill his yellow Mazda 3 and a jerry can full of petrol, court papers said.
After pumping $140.72 worth of fuel, which equalled 72.2 litres at the time, McLeod drove away without paying.
Police were patrolling Bathurst around 6am on June 8 when they stopped McLeod on Havannah Street.
During conversation with officers, McLeod allowed police to search his car before they found a red cap and dark face mask he had worn at the BP earlier that morning.
Police also found the jerry can of fuel.
Not knowing of the incident at the service station, McLeod was allowed to go.
But, the court heard a report was made about the incident around 11.30am the same day.
Police went to the BP on June 14 before they charged McLeod with the offence.
Sentence
During sentencing, the court heard McLeod was in a "traumatic stage in his life and had gone off the rails", according to his legal Aid solicitor Simone Thackray.
Ms Thackray said her client was also under the influence of drugs at the time.
Magistrate Geoff Hyatt noted McLeod was on bail at the time and said he had crossed the section five threshold, meaning a jail term was the only appropriate sentence.
McLeod was sentenced to 14 days in full time custody, which came to an end on January 2, 2024.
But, he remains behind bars for unrelated matters.
McLeod was also ordered to pay $140.72 in compensation.
