A Dunedin teen who stole four wheels from a vehicle and then faced the embarrassment of being filmed refitting them accepts he made an "idiotic decision".
Ethan Robert James Harbrow (19) previously pleaded guilty to the theft before the Dunedin District Court and was ordered to repay the victim more than $1000 by Judge John Macdonald yesterday.
Counsel Thea Sefton said her client had seen the wheels several times, as where the vehicle was parked was on his route to work.
A police summary said Harbrow pulled up in the victim’s driveway hours before the incident but was spooked and drove off.
He was back shortly afterwards though to execute his plan.
Despite the defendant painting the rims a different colour, the owner tracked him down and Harbrow agreed to refit the stolen goods.
The video of him doing so, Ms Sefton said, was posted on Facebook and had been shared more than 5000 times.
"He has since received a significant amount of harassment and abuse," she said.
Yesterday’s court hearing came three months after the video of Harbrow replacing the stolen tyres and rims went viral after it was shared by the Daily Mail Australia.
The video shows the defendant beside the victim’s white Toyota Hilux while admitting the theft.The owner of the truck said he overheard someone pinching the wheels outside his Dunedin home.
"Did you f... my running boards in from jacking it up?" a man can be heard asking in the video.
"Yes," Harbrow responds sheepishly.
"Did you just drop it on the brakes?" the videographer continues, to which the defendant said he didn’t.
The filmer claimed to have found Harbrow in 30 minutes "using his local networks".
Defence counsel Thea Sefton told the court her client had no previous convictions and a punitive sentence was not required because of the online vitriol he had received as a result of the vigilante action.
Judge John Macdonald said there appeared to be "an element of envy" in the offending and noted Harbrow tried to conceal his offending.
Along with reparation of $1128, the defendant was ordered to pay court costs of $130.