By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man bearing a bottle of bourbon and a brick has jumped a counter and cleaned out the serving tray at a fast food outlet in Narre Warren, a Dandenong Magistrates’ Court bail hearing was told.
David Andrews, 41, of Noble Park, allegedly told staff at the Hungry Jack’s store in the late afternoon of 28 April that he was starving and didn’t care if they called police.
According to police, he took the stolen food and ate it in nearby hedges outside. There he was arrested.
At the time Andrews was on bail on theft, equipped-to-steal and weapons charges arising five days earlier, the court heard on 1 June.
He was allegedly arrested by PSOs at Murrumbeena railway station with five stolen bottles of grog, a knife, axe, pliers and screwdriver.
Other weapons charges included carrying a sling-shot as well as a billiard ball in a sock on 26 January as well as contravening family violence intervention orders in February.
Andrews was also found with a chainsaw in January – which he wasn’t charged over, police told the court.
Bail was opposed by police, who argued he was an unacceptable risk of reoffending.
He was on a community corrections order (CCO) and bail at the time of the alleged food thefts.
Defence barrister Richard Davis argued for Andrews’s release on intensive CISP bail, with housing and mental health treatment.
At the time of offending, Andrews was “psychotic” due to not sleeping and using methamphetamine. His issues stemmed from being homeless, Mr Davis said.
In that state, he did “arm up” but didn’t use weapons to rob people, Mr Davis said.
Andrews had been in remand for the past four months and was no longer on drugs.
On 3 June, magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg noted the man had failed to complete a previous drug treatment order (DTO) at Drug Court in 2017.
The proposed CISP bail program was “nowhere near as intensive” as a DTO, Mr Rozencwaig said.
On his latest CCO, Andrews’ “abysmal” performance included illicit drug use and further alleged offending.
Mr Rozencwaig ruled Andrews was an unacceptable risk of reoffending, so bail was refused.
