A business owner whose CBD shop has been broken into twice in the past five years has spoken out about the real cost of being a victim of crime.
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Green Apple Sandwich Bar's owner Kristine Maclean's shop was broken into on March 28 last year by an 18-year-old man who was recently sentenced in Orange Local Court.
The thief stole about $180 in cash plus coins from tip jars as well as a bottle of hand sanitiser, and a day of earnings due to the shop's forced closure.
The thief was captured on CCTV and he still had the sanitiser in his possession when he was arrested for another matter that night.
The teenager and an unnamed co-accused gained access to the closed Centrepoint Arcade and damaged the roller doors to get into Mrs Maclean's business.
It was the second time the shop had been broken into and the previous break-in was in similar circumstances. Mrs Maclean said the centre paid for the roller doors to be fixed but the break-in cost a lot more than the stolen cash.
"While [the doors] were getting fixed I lost a day of trade," she said.
My excess is still more than what was taken.
- Kristine Maclean
"[I] don't leave any money at the shop and I encourage people to use contactless payments.
"They [thieves] just think you are a business, you haven't really lost anything when you have."
She said she puts in long hours at the business and had previously checked herself out of hospital eight days after undergoing neurosurgery so she could get back to work.
Mrs Maclean said she received no compensation and said her premium and excess would go up if she tried to recover the stolen money through insurance.
"My excess is still more than what was taken," she said.
The teenager who was convicted for last-year's break and enter was given a two-year community-based custodial sentence.
The court heard he had started using cannabis at the age of 12 and methamphetamine from the age of 14 or 15 and had an extensive criminal record. However, he avoided full-time jail because he attended nine-months of residential drug rehabilitation.
Mrs Maclean said she hopes he stays on track.
"I did feel sorry for the kid after learning about his upbringing," she said.
"I think everybody needs a second chance."
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
