A LAPTOP stolen from a MacKillop College student's school bag when it was left unattended in a local shopping centre was later found and returned to her by police.
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Loretta Ahsee, 44, of Rocket Street, Bathurst, appeared in person in Bathurst Local Court on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 to plead guilty to receiving stolen property.
Police documents before the court said the victim in the matter was in the Armada Shopping Centre at about 4pm on December 16, 2024 when she put her school bag under a seat in the middle of the walkway.
Inside the bag there was a MacBook Air inside a case, as well as other items including a perfume bottle, all with a total value of $1640, according to the police documents.
A co-accused to Ahsee was walking inside the centre when she saw the bag under the seat, picked it up, put it in her trolley and kept going.
She walked outside the centre via the William Street exit, stopped, rummaged through the bag, pulled out the laptop inside the case and threw the bag in a nearby bin, according to the police documents.
The bag was later collected by a witness.
The incident was clearly captured on CCTV, according to the police documents.
The co-accused, with the laptop, went to a CBD pub, met with Ahsee and gave her the laptop inside the case.
At some point during the day, Ahsee returned to her Rocket Street address with the laptop and case.
Police attended the shopping centre management office on December 18, 2024, obtained a copy of the CCTV footage and got a statement from the witness.
On the same day, police attended the co-accused's address in South Bathurst.
Police said they were met at the front door by the co-accused, who was questioned and made admissions to taking the bag and giving it to Ahsee.
Ahsee, who was at the South Bathurst house, approached police and made admissions to taking the laptop from the co-accused and taking it to her house, according to the police documents.
Both Ahsee and the co-accused were arrested and taken to Bathurst Police Station.
On the same day, with permission from Ahsee, police attended a Rocket Street address and seized the laptop from inside the premises.
Police then attended the victim's address and obtained a typed statement.
The victim identified the laptop and case as hers based on the pictures shown to her by police.
In custody, Ahsee and the co-accused declined to be interviewed.
In court
Ahsee was represented by Legal Aid solicitor Simone Thackray, who said her client's record did not assist her, but there was now a five-year gap in her offending.
Ms Thackray said her client "recognises that she needs to hang out with people that have a more positive influence on her".
Ahsee also has mental health challenges, Ms Thackray said.
She asked the court to take into account the fact her client made herself available to police when they were speaking with the co-accused and made admissions to police.
A five-year gap in offending is a significant period of time for someone who has a record like Ahsee does, Ms Thackray said.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Ferrier said it was the prosecution's view that a supervised order would be appropriate.
He said it was this sort of offending that made larceny more appealing - because it was "so easy to offload stolen property".
He also said Ahsee had been "charged with this offence before".
Magistrate Gemma Slack-Smith said Ahsee's behaviour was opportunistic, but said there was some indication of contrition or remorse.
She convicted Ahsee and imposed an 18-month Community Correction Order (used for crimes that do not warrant imprisonment or an Intensive Correction Order, but which are too serious to be dealt with by a fine or lower level penalty), with supervision by Bathurst Community Corrections.
