Hervey Bay father sentenced to no Christmas cheer
A HERVEY Bay father has wept in court after being jailed for theft, burglary and fraud, blowing his chance to spend Christmas with his two young children.
Benjamin Edward Haines was sentenced to nine months jail, to serve three, after he pleaded guilty to the charges in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court yesterday.
His de facto partner and their two children, the youngest just six months, were in court waving and blowing kisses at 25-year-old Haines, who was seated in the dock with a uniformed policeman.
Haines was arrested on a warrant after failing to appear in court this month.
He told police he skipped court because he was worried he would go to jail and miss Christmas with his kids.
On October 15, Haines had stolen a bicycle from the carpark at Woolworths in Pialba and taken it to Cash Converters to exchange it for a $57 loan.
He also broke into a Torquay home and stole $1300 cash, a laptop, camera and a stash of gold jewellery.
Police identified him through CCTV footage taken from a nearby business.
Magistrate Graeme Tatnell told Haines to get off the drugs and be a reasonable father.
