THE AUSSIE meat pie was one of many elements proving a Griffith man’s undoing recently.
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Warren Alexander Burman was sentenced in Griffith Local Court on Wednesday, October 19 for a string of break and enters in June where he was captured on CCTV leaving behind a string of DNA with half-eaten snacks.
The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to four counts of break and enter, two counts of stealing motor vehicle, larceny and two counts of destroying or damaging property.
He received an 18-month prison sentence.
Burman’s binge began on Monday, June 6 when he entered the compound of a building on Massey Avenue in Leeton and came face-to-face with the temptation of a carton of honeycomb-flavoured milk.
Inside the compound he rummaged through a number of vehicles, stealing several clothing items including a West Tigers jumper, before forcing open the lock of a building where he consumed some of the assorted of dairy products and other food and drink inside.
Burman left behind his partially consumed flavoured milk, with a side of his DNA, on a pallet in the cool room - before stealing an estimated $800 worth of products.
A second locked cool room was hit with Burman again stealing a number of products, including juice and juice-making ingredients.
He also entered an office and leaving with two socket sets, a screwdriver set and the keys to his getaway vehicle - a refrigerated van.
During this time he smoked a cigarette, the butt of which he left on the floor.
After loading his bounty into the van he drove it through the gates of the compound and left the scene.
The van was later found burnt out on Wednesday, June 8.
The spree continued two days later when at 3am Burman removed a fly screen and jemmied open the side window of the Leeton Shire Council Depot.
He remained inside for an hour and 20 minutes taking a coin tray from a locked drinks fridge and helping himself to a can of Pepsi Max, which he left on a desk, again with his DNA.
He was still inside when the cleaners arrived at 4am, however they didn’t see him and he was captured leaving on CCTV at 4.48am.
But two days later he was back, climbing the 10-foot fence surrounding the depot and smashing through the same window for his Friday night entry.
Inside he stole a laptop, $20 in change from the meal room fridge, two mobile phones, an Apple Air Ipad, torches and eight UHFs.
After two unsuccessful attempts to open the locked gates surrounding the building Burman rammed a ute from the depot through the surrounding fence and drove away into the night.
The ute was found ablaze later the same day, taking the total value of property damaged and stolen to $21,000.
In his final misdemeanour Burman broke into a business on Acacia Avenue in Leeton at 9.15pm on Sunday, June 12, where he caused more damage, while enjoying a meat pie.
Burman was again captured on CCTV, this time scaling a 10ft fence and dropping a beanie he had worn in his previous robbery of the shire depot.
After smashing a hole in the fibro wall of the business, which activated the alarm, he went into the office and rummaged through a number of drawers before finding the pie in the fridge.
He managed to nab a digital camera while eating but had to hide behind some boxes when the owner arrived to check the alarm, dropping his uneaten portion.
At 2am on Saturday, June 18 police saw Burman sitting against a shop on Kooyoo Street in Griffith looking at his phone.
He gave a false name but was nonetheless arrested and taken to Griffith Police Station, where he denied both the allegations and his love for flavoured milk.
Burman could not explain how his DNA had come to be on the milk and cigarette butt from the first robbery.
Burman will be eligible for release on June 17, 2017.