Thief Hammered After Court Heist
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday February 1, 2006
A MAGISTRATE'S gavel was stolen from Wallsend Courthouse when a man broke in on Australia Day, Newcastle Local Court was told yesterday.
It heard that police recovered the gavel the next day when they saw Shane Robert Gooch pushing a shopping trolley along a Wallsend street.Gooch, 29, unemployed, of Ascot Street, Glendale, pleaded guilty to breaking into the courthouse and stealing the gavel and a computer hard drive, and breaking into a Wallsend house on the morning of January 27 and stealing property.Senior Constable Megan Crockford said in a tendered statement that police went to the courthouse when an alarm was activated. She said police saw Gooch pushing a shopping trolley loaded with property along Cowper Street on the afternoon of January 27. The gavel and the computer hard drive were among property in the trolley, she said.Magistrate Richard Wakely sentenced Gooch to 10 months' jail with a four-month non-parole period for the housebreaking, and to a concurrent one month's jail for the courthouse offence.Magistrates used gavels many decades ago to reinforce an order. The Local Court no longer sits at Wallsend, but it still offers a chamber magistrate's service.
© 2006 Newcastle Herald