An Oamaru youth described as "a one-man crime spree" stole to fuel a Kronic habit, but was now glad the synthetic cannabis substitute was no longer on the market, the Oamaru District Court was told yesterday.
Warrick Delaney Taylor (18), unemployed, was being sentenced on two charges of burglary on July 31 and August 15 and seven charges of stealing from cars between August 10 and 15.
On one of the theft from cars charges, stealing compact discs worth $400 between August 13 and 14, he was sentenced to 100 hours community work and ordered to pay $245 reparation.
On all other charges, he was remanded to November 9 for sentence, Judge Michael Crosbie giving Taylor the chance to do as much community work as was available - if he did not, he could lose his liberty.
One of the burglaries was the Itchen St Dairy on August 15, when Taylor and his father broke in about 3am but fled after they realised the owner lived on the premises.
They smashed a glass pane in a door and took ice creams and five bags of chips which they hid in an alley, but later showed police where they were.
That was the night Oamaru experienced heavy snow, and police tracked their footprints to their house in Orwell St, where they were both arrested.
Taylor's counsel Ngaire Alexander said the defendant stole to obtain money to buy Kronic.
Since then, Kronic had been banned from the market which, Miss Alexander said, Taylor was glad about, otherwise he would have continued to buy it.
Judge Crosbie said Taylor had been "a one-man crime spree for some time".
One burglary had been committed while Taylor was on bail and, in total, he had stolen about $3500 worth of items from his victims, Judge Crosbie said.
