Puppy love turns couple into pet shop thieves
Robbers have dog of a night!
A young couple went on a canine crime spree because they could not afford to buy two rottweiler puppies they fancied.
Luke Hogenhout and girlfriend Hollie Marsden brok into a Ballarat pet store in the middle of the night and stole seven puppies worth $3000.
And they gave themselves a bonus of two blue-tongue lizards during the July burglary.
The Ballarat Magistrates' Court was told the couple's haul included the rottweiler puppies they had put a $100 deposit on two weeks earlier.
Hogenhout and Ms Marsden, both 20, hatched a plan to steal the puppies after they worked out their finances and realised they could not afford to pay off the remaining $700, the court heard.
Defence lawyer Jeremy Harper told the court the coupld could not afford to pay off the dogs because of unexpected medical bills for their cat.
"The cat came back with a broken leg one day and they had to take it to the vet and incur a $800 vet bill," he said. "It was devastating for them." Police prosecutor Senior Constable Clint Prebble told the court the pair and another person broke into Village Pets in Wendouree on July 24.
The trio did not realise they had tripped a silent alarm after scaling a fence and entering the pet shop through an unlocked door, the court heard.
They then stole the two rottweiler pups, five siberian husky puppies and two blue-tongued lizards.
Sen-Constable Prebble said the trio fled when police responded to the alarm, dumping the bag with the stolen puppies and lizards.
But the bag of puppies found by police had Ms Marsden's name and address on it.
Sen-Constable Prebble told the court the trio were later arrested and confessed to the thefts. He said the puppies were recovered but not the two lizards.
Hogenhout, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, one count of burglary and one of failing to answer bail.
Mr Harper told the Court, Hogenhout was a hard-working apprentice who was very embarrassed by his actions.
He said Hogenhout was not keen to go along with the theft plan and tried to distances himself from it by not going into the shop. But Mr Harper conceded that by being the getaway driver, Hogenhout shared responsibility for the crime.
The magistrate released Hogenhout without a conviction, but ordered him to do 50 hours of community work.
Ms Marsden is charged with burglary and theft. Her case was adjourned to October 21 for diversion.
Copyright SunHerald
Robbers have dog of a night!
A young couple went on a canine crime spree because they could not afford to buy two rottweiler puppies they fancied.
Luke Hogenhout and girlfriend Hollie Marsden brok into a Ballarat pet store in the middle of the night and stole seven puppies worth $3000.
And they gave themselves a bonus of two blue-tongue lizards during the July burglary.
The Ballarat Magistrates' Court was told the couple's haul included the rottweiler puppies they had put a $100 deposit on two weeks earlier.
Hogenhout and Ms Marsden, both 20, hatched a plan to steal the puppies after they worked out their finances and realised they could not afford to pay off the remaining $700, the court heard.
Defence lawyer Jeremy Harper told the court the coupld could not afford to pay off the dogs because of unexpected medical bills for their cat.
"The cat came back with a broken leg one day and they had to take it to the vet and incur a $800 vet bill," he said. "It was devastating for them." Police prosecutor Senior Constable Clint Prebble told the court the pair and another person broke into Village Pets in Wendouree on July 24.
The trio did not realise they had tripped a silent alarm after scaling a fence and entering the pet shop through an unlocked door, the court heard.
They then stole the two rottweiler pups, five siberian husky puppies and two blue-tongued lizards.
Sen-Constable Prebble said the trio fled when police responded to the alarm, dumping the bag with the stolen puppies and lizards.
But the bag of puppies found by police had Ms Marsden's name and address on it.
Sen-Constable Prebble told the court the trio were later arrested and confessed to the thefts. He said the puppies were recovered but not the two lizards.
Hogenhout, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, one count of burglary and one of failing to answer bail.
Mr Harper told the Court, Hogenhout was a hard-working apprentice who was very embarrassed by his actions.
He said Hogenhout was not keen to go along with the theft plan and tried to distances himself from it by not going into the shop. But Mr Harper conceded that by being the getaway driver, Hogenhout shared responsibility for the crime.
The magistrate released Hogenhout without a conviction, but ordered him to do 50 hours of community work.
Ms Marsden is charged with burglary and theft. Her case was adjourned to October 21 for diversion.
Copyright SunHerald
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