Mitre 10 thieves return for refunds after stealing drill bits and blades

A man and woman took turns to steal drill bits and saw blades from Mitre 10, only to return them the same day at the same store for refunds.

When arrested and questioned by police, Tyson Manning Jason Simm, 33, denied stealing at first.

"That's not me in those photos," he told officers.

Simm stood in the dock with a pained expression as he was ordered to pay for the stolen items at the North Shore District Court today.

Court documents show he went to Mitre 10 Te Rapa in Hamilton in November 2021.

He hid two drill bits and one saw blade in his clothing and left the store without paying, driving off in his Honda.

Moments later, the same Honda returned to the store carpark and Simm's accomplice, an unnamed woman, got out.

The couple stole items from Mitre 10 stores in Hamilton and Waihi and went back for refunds. File photo / Paul Taylor

She went straight to the customer service desk with the same items, asked for a refund and was given $270.56.

Several months later in April this year, the woman went into Mitre 10 Waihi and stole two jigsaw blades.

The alarm went off as she went past the security door, staff confronted her but she fled in the same Honda vehicle.

Within an hour, Simm showed up at the store's customer service desk with the two jigsaw blades and tried to get a refund.

Suspicious, staff members refused to refund Simm, who grabbed the stolen blades, rushed out of the store and fled in his Honda.

Seven days later, Simm was stopped by police who caught him speeding on a highway in Pokeno.

Simm was charged and convicted of theft and obtaining by deception items under $500.

In court today, Judge Clare Bennett said Simm had previous convictions and was sentenced in March to intensive supervision for similar offending around the same time.

He had told the court he was struggling with alcohol and gambling addiction and needed help, she said.

The judge cancelled his current sentence, imposing a new one of nine months' intensive supervision, and ordered him to pay Mitre 10 $270.56 for the items he stole.

Simm was also ordered to attend a budgeting advice course, as well as all treatment and counselling sessions for gambling and alcohol as ordered by his probation officer.

He must also stay at his Glenfield address.