Bradley Paul Charles, 41, looked set to go to jail with charges that crossed the threshold given the seriousness and prevalence of similar offences in his history, Magistrate Joy Boulos said.

Yet she conceded he had made "positive steps and was looking healthy" in his rehabilitation process, after hearing submissions for his legal representative Susie Gidlow.

Charles was charged with attempted break and enter, and two counts of gaining financial advantage by deception.

In September, Charles used a crowbar to try and pry open the door of a store in Beelbangera.

Unsuccessful, he then used the tool to smash a glass panel on the automatic doors to try and open it from the inside.

This triggered the alarm, and he fled the area, but not before cutting himself on the broken glass. Police's DNA tests matched the blood to Charles, and he was arrested later in October.

The dishonesty offences arose in August, when Charles used a stolen credit card to purchase Bluetooth headphones worth $79 and hair clippers worth $84.15.

Ms Gidlow said since January, he had self-referred to Pathways for weekly support, and had been remaining abstinent from drugs.

Charles had been sent to jail before for dishonesty offences, Ms Gidlow said, but there were significant gaps in his record where he was drug-free.

"Given the steps taken for rehabilitation and time since reoffending ... there are real reasons why an ICO is appropriate."

Ms Boulos commended him for his efforts.

"[You are] taking steps to address the underlying issues of substance abuse that has lead you to lead a criminal life," Ms Boulos said to Charles.

READ MORE

"These offences are prevalent in the community and the community expects punishment. You need to be stopped ... [I need to] hold you to account and denounce your behaviour."

He received the 25 per cent discount for his early plea of guilty, and she accepted he had taken full responsibility for his actions with an "honest and forthright" sentencing report.

Charles was given an overall prison term of 18 months to be served and supervised in the community, 100 hours of community service, and will continue with his rehabilitation.