Hanly had pleaded guilty to four charges — two shoplifting offences, one of obtaining by deception and one of breaching bail. The dishonesty offences involved goods valued at $252 and were all part of the same incident.
Judge Couch noted the breach of bail — arising from Hanly’s failure to attend a previous court hearing — was the worst of his offending.
Since the offending, Hanly had voluntarily undertaken trapping work in an effort to make amends. Evidence of it was presented to the court, including photos of dead possums and rats.
Hanly told the judge it was more of the voluntary work he had been doing for the last few years to help rid the bush of pests. He was “born in the bush” and passionate about preserving it.
Judge Couch was impressed and told Hanly: “Even if I had sentenced you to community work it, you probably couldn’t have done anything more constructive (than the trapping).”
The judge noted that while Hanly’s criminal record showed he had a “colourful” past, he had obviously realised as he had aged that “life doesn’t last forever”. He now also had responsibility for a young child.
