In about two weeks in July 2015, Michael Paul Forrest, 24, broke into 39 cars, and stole property worth $42,000 from 29 people.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It was a series of crimes the sentencing judge, speaking on Monday, described as a "sustained rampage of criminality".
Forrest had pleaded guilty to 37 offences in total, of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, theft, property damage, receiving stolen property, driving a stolen car and driving while disqualified.
The offences were largely contained within 16 incidents.
In one, Forrest went to a sports store in Fyshwick where he put on a $59 jumper on underneath his top. When stopped by a shop worker, he grabbed a knife and aimed it at the worker.
He targeted car parks, including at Mr Stromlo while one person was mountain biking, and at Kambah, while a person was attending to their horse, and also secure undercover car parks.
Forrest would smash the windows of the unattended vehicles.
He would steal property from the cars. In some cases, once in possession of keys and personal documents or details, Forrest would go to the person's house and steal items.
He took property such as iPads, jewellery, cash and cameras.
He stole items worth more than $10,000 from one person.
The suburbs he targeted ranged across Canberra, from Deakin, to Duffy, Chapman, Kingston Phillip and Mawson. The offending stopped when Forrest was arrested on July 25, 2015.
On Monday, Justice Richard Refshauge deferred the man's sentence until February 20 next year. He placed the man on bail from Tuesday, on the condition he go straight to Karralika.
If Forrest left or was discharged from the rehabilitation program, he was to report immediately to Tuggeranong Police Station.
He was not to consume any illicit drugs while on bail.
The judge said it was Forrest's participation in Solaris, the prison alcohol and drug program, as well as in the restorative justice program, that had encouraged him to defer the sentence.
The court heard Forrest had asked to be involved in restorative justice, a supervised process in which offenders communicate with their victims about their offending, and he had written to at least eight of the victims to apologise. They were keen for the man to enter rehabilitation so the offending did not continue.
The judge said Forrest had found the restorative justice process confronting, and he had found it difficult to respond to people against who he'd committed the crimes. He did not expect the crimes to have such a wide impact.
Justice Refshauge warned Forrest that the eventual sentence he faced would be determined by his actions over the next year.
If the man breached the conditions of his bail he faced a six year sentence of immediate full time imprisonment. If he met the conditions, a six year sentence fully suspended, with a good behaviour order, was more likely.
Forrest had already spent a "considerable" amount of time in jail.
The judge urged Forrest to seek help for his mental health and drug problems when things got difficult. He warned Forrest this was his chance to become someone the community could trust, and a good role model for his son.
"Don't waste it, don't make me look like a fool," the judge said.
