Monday, April 13, 2015

Smell of bacon led police to pork thieves

A late night fry-up proved too tempting for a pair of meat thieves who inadvertently lured police straight to their front door with the smell of sizzling bacon. Damian Barry Lewis faced magistrates in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, last week to answer for the night he and a young accomplice went on a failed mission for greasy food in Pialba.

The court heard 33-year-old Lewis and a "spaced out" teenager were found rifling through a stranger's shed in December. When the owner yelled out and asked what they were doing, Lewis apparently pointed to the younger male who was "walking around in circles" with bacon and sausages in hand and said "he told me to". The man told the pair police were on their way and they jumped his fence and fled.



Following footprints in the grass, police arrived at Lewis' address where they detected the smell of cooking bacon coming from the home. Lewis was later identified on a photo board and charged. While he insisted he "wasn't actually the one taking the food", Lewis admitted to being in the man's yard when the bacon was stolen and that he should have known better. He pleaded for another chance on the grounds his dog was waiting at home to be fed and he needed to clean his home so he didn't fail an upcoming rental inspection.

He also told the court he had previously completed more than 100 hours community service and was so popular he had been asked to return as a volunteer. Magistrate Graeme Tatnell said: "I've told you a number of times you need to start behaving yourself". He ordered Lewis to serve a further 80 hours of community service, warning him if he continued to reoffend, he would lose both the dog and his home and end up in jail.

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