An elderly couple set up CCTV cameras after suspecting someone had been rifling through their self-contained retirement village unit.

Within a fortnight, the cameras sprung the maintenance man rummaging through their home.

The victim, 88, and his wife had left for a presentation in the community centre at the North Canterbury retirement village in June.

While they were gone, Aaron Dean McConville entered the unit through an unlocked back door, walked through the house, shut some curtains and rummaged through several drawers and shelves in the bedroom and kitchen.

McConville took a bottle of tablets from the kitchen cabinet twice and emptied the contents into his hand before leaving through the back door.

When police caught up with him, the 35-year-old agreed he didn’t have permission to be in the home and claimed he was returning the medication.

He told police he intended to take the tablets but put them back.

Judge Quentin Hix wasn’t convinced when McConville appeared in the Christchurch District Court last week with an application for a discharge without conviction on a burglary-for-drugs charge.

Defence lawyer Matt Smit said a conviction would cause significant hardship as McConville had four children and had lost his job.

McConville had offered the victim $1000 reparation.

Judge Hix said there was disagreement over what had been taken during the burglary.

The defence said the bottle held antihistamines, but police said it was opioid pain medication, tramadol.

The judge said he understood it was tramadol and rejected the application based on the information he had.

Judge Hix offered to adjourn the matter for a hearing.

“I need to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities.

“I need to accept that he hadn’t gone in there with intent to commit a crime which is contrary to the summary.

“I’m not convinced on the balance of probabilities.”

Judge Hix said his information suggested they were potentially addictive prescription items.

The judge said McConville knew he wasn’t supposed to be in their home and was intending to leave the medication there. However, rather than leaving it, he went through drawers trying to find other medication, then became aware of another bottle of tablets and recognised what they were.

Judge Hix said McConville took the non-prescription tablets.

There had been suspicion as things had previously gone missing, someone had been into their unit a fortnight prior, and the couple had cameras installed, the judge said.

Smit approached McConville then agreed to adjourn the matter to December for an hour-long hearing.

However, Smit returned to the courtroom minutes later and said McConville had abandoned his application and wanted a sentence indication.

Police and Smit agreed on a conviction and $1000 reparation.

Judge Hix convicted McConville and ordered him to pay reparation to the victim within four weeks.