KEY POINTS:
A judge yesterday warned a Tauranga man to stay away from parking meters as a source of cash.
Judge Louis Bidois was sentencing James Hemi Gates to 60 hours' community work for attempted theft.
The unemployed 59-year-old had been before Tauranga District Court last Friday on a similar offence - stealing from a parking meter.
A community magistrate heard then that he was broke and hungry, having been released from prison. As he walked in the central business district, he saw a meter with a damaged lock, lifted the cover and collected the $3.90 that fell out.
The magistrate told him not to reappear within three months or he would face a penalty.
Yesterday, the court heard that, also on Friday, Gates was seen opening a meter and looking inside for coins.
Judge Bidois declined to discharge him because he might then be recalled and sentenced on Friday's matter, so he ordered community work.
- NZPA
