KEY POINTS:
It was a well trodden path from the cells to the dock for a serial shoplifter.
A trip taken so often he was greeted by a familiar face.
"Happy New Year, Mr Pederson," Judge Geoff Rea said.
Kerry James Pederson shrugged sheepishly at the season's greeting, looking amused at being back in court again.
His lawyer, Catherine Clarkson, said Pederson had planned to make a bail application, but now wanted to plead guilty to the charges.
"Did he find out I was here?" Judge Rea quipped.
Pederson, 47, admitted charges of shoplifting, trespass and breaching the liquor ban when he appeared in Hastings District Court on Tuesday.
Ms Clarkson said Pederson was resigned to the fact a custodial sentence was inevitable but special release conditions were needed.
Judge Rea said he knew Pederson's record, and he looked forward to hearing ideas for the conditions.
"Mr Pederson probably has almost the New Zealand record for petty offending."
Pederson was remanded in custody for sentencing today.
His criminal history spans 19 pages and four decades starting in 1978.
He has 122 previous convictions for shoplifting. In the past two years he has been sentenced to short terms of imprisonment 10 times.
- NZPA
