A man who stole an Eftpos card from a trusting elderly couple and embarked on a drug-fuelled $5000 spending spree has been sentenced to 19 months' imprisonment.
Hamish David Wright, 23, appeared in the Napier District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of using a stolen Eftpos card, burglary, theft, willful trespass and a breach of supervision.
Wright had been taken in by the local elderly couple when he stole their Eftpos card and swiped it 16 times; racking up a bill of $4948.38.
The couple had given him the card to buy a pack of cigarettes one day and he stole the card later that night.
Judge Philip Connell, who later described Wright's actions as "mean", told the court the husband was in a wheelchair and the couple in their 70s had put money aside to buy a special vehicle that could move him around.