A social inquiry report and drug assessments were yesterday ordered for a man who admitted stealing a debit card to purchase more than $2,000 worth of goods – including pornography.

Le-Jai Tucker, 21, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to the theft of $2,879 from Mitzi Clarke, his landlady, through unauthorised debit card transactions.

He also pleaded guilty to the theft of an iPhone X owned by Ms Clarke.

The court heard that Ms Clarke, who owns and lives in an apartment complex in Warwick, suspected that her home had been burgled on March 11 after she returned from work noticed several items had been moved.

She later realised that her iPhone, valued at $900, had been stolen out of a dresser and reported the incident to the police.

Nicole Smith, the senior prosecutor, said that Ms Clarke was later contacted by Butterfield Bank to confirm if she had made a $19 payment to an online merchant called ECHST.net.

She told the bank that she had not authorised this transaction and did not know the company.

Ms Clarke contacted the site and learnt that the card had been used in several transactions to purchase pornography worth a total of $72.35.

The court heard that Ms Clarke cancelled the card and reviewed her bank statements from February 1 to April 30.

She found that 107 unauthorised purchases had been made with her card with a total value of $2,879 and also included purchases of food and mobile apps.

The court also heard that Ms Clarke recognised the email attached to the transactions as belonging to one of her tenants, Le-Jai Tucker.

Ms Clarke contacted police and Tucker was arrested on June 10 on suspicion of obtaining property by deception.

He at first denied the offences, but later confessed when he returned to Hamilton Police Station on August 11.

Tucker told police that he had permission to enter Ms Clarke’s apartment to help look after her sick husband and stole her iPhone when he found it while looking for a phone charger.

He added that he took a photograph of her credit card and used it to buy goods without her knowledge.

Tucker also told police that he used the card for living expenses while he bought cannabis and alcohol with his own money

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo ordered a social inquiry report and two drug assessments on Tucker and released him on $3,000 bail.

He adjourned the case until January 12 next year.

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