By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A CRANBOURNE West man has used stolen credit cards to rip-off swimming pool stores, liquor stores and servos for more than $4500, a court has heard.
On four occasions, Simon Albert Shaw, 44, ordered over the phone using a stolen credit card to buy a swimming pool from a Clarks Rubber store in Melbourne’s south east just prior to Christmas last year.
Each time, he then went into the store to get a refund onto another card, reaping a total of more than $2700.
The court heard on 30 November that Shaw also placed two $500-plus orders of slabs of premium beer, bourbon and whiskey at Dan Murphy’s stores using the same card.
Shaw made full admissions, telling police he’d received the credit card details from an unnamed friend, who owed him money.
“At the time it was Christmas, and I needed money,” Shaw told police.
“It was stupid.”
The accused pleaded guilty to about 30 deception and theft charges, including possessing two stolen street signs, as well as breaching a community corrections order.
About 1am on 14 June, the accused assisted a driver involved in a minor collision in Cranbourne West, the court heard.
During Shaw’s act of charity, the driver’s iPhone 6 and credit card went missing.
By 2.30am, Shaw made six fraudulent transactions, totalling more than $700 using the driver’s card at servos and an ATM, Senior Constable Ryan Johnson told the court.
During the next day, Shaw made calls and texts from the stolen phone.
In October, Shaw used a stolen credit card to book a motel room, buy petrol, two family-sized meals from Pizza Hut, $170 of meat, a brush cutter and leaf blower, and ordered a $940 motorbike.
He also pleaded guilty to three petrol drive-offs in Cranbourne in August and November. On both occasions he was unlicensed.
Shaw had been on a community corrections order since February but had not completed one of 200 hours of required unpaid work, the court was told.
Shaw’s lawyer argued Shaw had been medically unfit to comply with the order due to a shoulder and bicep injury since March.
The accused’s offending was “hopeless” in that he gave his name and mobile number to the stores, the lawyer said.
“There’s almost an inevitability about his prosecution for his matters.
Magistrate Julie O’Donnell noted Shaw’s 20-plus pages of criminal history, and a lack of medical proof to justify his non-compliance with his corrections order.
“He’s committed these sort of offences for years.”
Ms O’Donnell cancelled the corrections order and sentenced Shaw to 14 months’ jail, with a seven-month non-parole period.
