A MAN who stole solar lights and garden pots from someone’s grave was fined $500 at the Rockingham Magistrate’s Court.
Michael Andrew Collins pleaded guilty to two stealing charges on January 29.
The prosecutor said police happened upon a car at the Rockingham Regional Memorial Park in Baldivis at 3.40am on December 7.
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READ NOWOn closer inspection they saw through an open window the car had garden pots and solar lights inside it.
The items, valued at $50, were taken from a man’s grave at the cemetery.
Magistrate Leanne Atkins asked “So you go to a cemetery and steal from someone’s grave?”
“Yes,” Collins said.
“I had just found out my brother tried to kill himself.
“I wasn’t thinking straight.
“I didn’t need the items.
“I am willing to do anything to help the relatives.”
Magistrate Atkins said the theft would have caused distress to relatives who tended the man’s grave.
“Considering what you had just found out; you then go and steal from a grave,” she said.
“I don’t think there is anything you could do to help the relatives.
“I hope you are thoroughly ashamed of yourself.”
“I am,” Collins said.