A man who stole three motorbikes from a rural property, that was used as a weekender, is planning to appeal the jail sentence he was given in Orange Local Court on Monday.
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According to police, Robert Graham Findlay, 38, of Phillip Street, used a battery-powered angle grinder to cut padlocks on gates and shipping containers twice at the property at Tea Tree Road, Garland.
Findlay broke into the property and stole two motorbikes, a Yamaha WR 450 and a Honda CRF 250 between September 22 and October 7, 2019.
Following that break and enter, the property owner, who Findlay was on bad terms with, installed CCTV cameras which captured the second theft between 12.20am and 1.30am on April 26.
The cameras detected Findlay arriving in his four-wheel-drive ute again using the cordless angle grinder to cut the padlocks and stealing a Honda CRF 125 motorbike, length of chain, a six piece socket set and six motorbike helmets.
Solicitor James Taylor said the stolen property was taken to "get back" at the owner and police returned the property to the victim after finding the motorbikes and other items in a storage area under Findlay's Phillip Street house.
In another offence on December 8, 2019, Findlay was holding a metal bar, possibly a golf club, when he threatened and intimidated a man in a small town on the NSW South Coast.
According to police, the threats included, "I'm gonna smash your head in, I will cut your throat. I'm not f***ing joking."
Mr Taylor said police had previously charged the victim of the intimidation with sexually assaulting a female that Findlay knew.
Magistrate David Day noted that Findlay had nothing else on his criminal history but said the offences required a jail sentence.
"There's a strong odour of vigilantism," Mr Day said.
Mr Day sentenced Findlay to 12 months in jail with a six-month non-parole period.
However, he granted Findlay bail later the same day so he could appeal the severity of the sentence next month.
Findlay was also given a six-month community correction order, three-month driving disqualification and will have to have an interlock device fitted to his car for 12 months for mid-range drink-driving with a reading of 0.088.
Findlay was breath tested after police saw him driving 130km/h on the Escort Way near the Borenore Caves on May 23, 2020.
