Michael Boulton, 30, really wanted to break-up with his partner, so he came up with an elaborate plan. Photo / 123RF
Michael Boulton, 30, really wanted to break-up with his partner, so he came up with an elaborate plan. Photo / 123RF
There's plenty of ways to break up with someone - but amid the thousands of ways to do it, this is possibly the worst we've heard.
A Queensland man by the name of Michael Dennis Boulton was recently convicted of being the mastermind behind a peculiar crime, purely because hewas sick of his girlfriend, The Gladstone Observer reports.
Late last month, Boulton, 30, and his partner went on a holiday to visit family but when they arrived home they realised their house had been brutally robbed.
Only - the robber hadn't touched a single thing of Boulton's. His girlfriend however wasn't so lucky.
Her belongings had been stolen - including her clothes, her passport, certificate of citizenship, a laptop and its charger, her jewellery and everything else - it was all gone.
When the police arrived at the ransacked home to investigate the theft, Boulton came clean.
Turns out, the 30-year-old had always planned to break up with his girlfriend while they were away and when he returned home he didn't want any reminders of her lying around the house.
He even paid the unknown thief a fee of $200 to complete the very obvious theft.
The dad-of-two admitted to officers he'd done it purely because he just wanted her "out of his life".
Boulton pleaded guilty to one count of stealing and in sentencing Gladstone Magistrate Melanie Ho labelled the premeditated act "disturbing", not only because of the idea but because he paid $200 for it to be done, even though he's unemployed.
The robber hadn't touched a single thing of Boulton's. His girlfriend however wasn't so lucky. Photo / File / 123RF
In court, Boulton's lawyer Rio Ramos defended her client, saying he's planning on making his next breakup a little less ruthless.
"He realises now that he should have handled the breakup better," Ramos said.
Ramos also said her client had mental health problems however could not present documentation to support the claims.
Boulton is now on a 12-month probation period and has been ordered to pay $866 restitution to his ex to cover the stolen laptop.
