Man who stole truck tyre would have been given one if he had asked, instead gets a conviction

A man has been sentenced to do 80 hours' community work after stealing a tyre from TRS Tyre & Wheel when all he needed to do was ask the owner and he would have been given one. Photo / Lewis Gardner

A man who took a tyre from TRS Tyre & Wheel could have got one if he had just asked for it, but instead he has got a conviction.

Jordan David Thomson climbed over a security fence and onto the premises at 1 Imlay Pl in Castlecliff at about 10.30am on Wednesday February 6.

Thomson lifted the truck tyre, worth $599.13, threw it over the fence and then pushed it to his nearby home address.

He was witnessed doing so by a member of the public who called police. They located Thomson a short time later with the tyre sitting in his driveway.

In explanation for his offending, Thomson said he wanted the tyre to use for weight training.

Thomson pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary in Whanganui District Court on March 5 and appeared again on April 16 for sentencing.

Lawyer Megan Jaquiery said there was a positive victim impact statement.

"[It] really pointed out that if he'd just come and asked beforehand, he would have had an old tyre. The owner would have given it to him," she said.

Thomson had full-time employment and no trouble before the court since 2015.

He was willing to take part in restorative justice, however it never occurred.

Judge Philip Crayton sentenced Thomson to 80 hours' community work.

"If you'd actually just used your common sense and gone and approached the yard, you'd have got what you wanted," the judge said.

"Now you've got another burglary conviction and you're going to start putting yourself in the position of going to prison."