Daniel Nathan Mackie (23) made headlines as a teenage hero in 2011 when he rescued a child from a burning bungalow.
He was standing outside his workplace talking to a friend when he saw a woman hurry from the front door of a neighbouring house carrying a baby in each arm.
After she told Mackie her son was still in the smoke-filled building, he dashed in and rescued the child.
His mother Claire told the Otago Daily Times at the time her son had gone from "zero to hero" in her eyes.
"It does show the defendant is able to be a useful member of society, at the drop of a hat, really," counsel Andy Belcher said.
But Judge Geoff Rea noted that since the heroic act, Mackie had chalked up 10 dishonesty convictions.
His decline from teen hero was further marked by a burglary for which he appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
Mackie went to the Milton Four Square shop on February 22 at 1.30am armed with a hammer.
He smashed his way into the shop through a window and went straight for the tobacco drawer.
Mackie stuffed $530 worth of tobacco products into a bag and fled on foot.
But he had left two important things behind.
When police examined the scene, they found the hammer the defendant used to break in and some blood.
A sample was taken and analysed by forensic scientists who came back with a hit on Mackie’s DNA.
Police then executed a search warrant at his home where they seized items of clothing and the bag they believed was used in the burglary.
Mackie told them he had no recollection of breaking into the Four Square and would own up to it if he had.
Eventually he did admit the charge and Mr Belcher called the offending "crude but not overly criminal".
"There was not a great deal of planning or sophistication," he said.
Mackie was unemployed, Mr Belcher said, and had come to court with "the grand amount of $80" as a down payment for the reparation he owed.
While Judge Rea acknowledged the 23-year-old’s selfless act nearly six years ago, he placed a final warning on the man’s file.
"You’ll only be able to hand up that article once. It won’t work again," he said.
Mackie was sentenced to five months’ home detention and 100 hours’ community work.
He was also ordered pay $1493 for the stolen tobacco and damage to the shop.
Judge Rea remitted $2500 fines Mackie had previously accumulated for driving offences.