A man who stole a bank card and used it to buy alcohol has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after being turned away from Drug Treatment Court.

Ernest Smith, 40, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to stealing items from a Warwick home in an incident on March 10 and dishonestly obtaining $355.54 of goods on the same date.

The court heard he broke into the home through a sliding door and stole a wallet, a helmet and mobile phone, before using a card in the wallet to make purchases at Warwick Pharmacy and Hayward’s Liquor Store.

Officers recognised Smith on CCTV footage from the stores, and he admitted the offences at the first opportunity.

While Smith was initially remanded to Drug Treatment Court, Magistrates’ Court heard that he was not accepted into the programme.

Addressing the court, Smith said he had been told there were concerns about violence, but he told the court he was not a violent man.

“I think it was a plot to exclude me from treatment,” he said. “I’m difficult. They say it’s a simple programme with complicated people, and I’m complicated, but by no means am I violent.”

However magistrate Maxanne Anderson noted that Smith does have a previous conviction for assaulting a police officer, and that the courts could not force treatment centres to take in someone they don’t want.

“We approve you going, but they have to accept you in,” she said.

She sentenced Smith to 30 months in prison with time already served taken into account, ordering that he serve at least half of that sentence before being eligible for parole. She further called on him to avail himself on any available drug treatment programme while on remand.

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