When Michael Richard Renton was pulled over by police in a car packed with meat, he had three problems: the meat was not his, the car was not his and he was drunk.
"Aged 45, much of your life can be gleaned from your 18 pages of convictions, which makes for rather sorry reading," Judge John Macdonald said.
The Dunedin District Court heard Renton had 23 previous convictions for burglary, as well as many others for theft and car crime.
At 2am on August 26, the defendant wrote the latest chapter on his rap sheet.
He and a friend entered the Top 10 Holiday Park in Kaikorai Valley.
They went into the communal kitchen and cleared out the fridge, making off with $160 of meat which belonged to one of the guests.
The haul must have been hard to carry, the judge suggested, because Renton loaded the stolen goods into an unsecured Nissan he found on Littlebourne Rd.
He and his associate drove first to Maitland St and then on to Bridge St, the court heard, where they were found by police.
Renton blew 531mcg — more than twice the legal limit.
He admitted the illegal activity, but had no explanation for interviewing officers.
At the time, Renton was serving release conditions — designed to help curb his offending — imposed by the court from his previous indiscretions.
When speaking to Probation before yesterday’s hearing, the defendant blamed what happened on his friends and relationship issues — "whatever that might mean," the judge said.
Renton had also been the subject of a psychologist’s report, which outlined his "multiple vulnerabilities."
Judge Macdonald said the man considered himself stuck in a rut.
"Bad thoughts from the past come to the fore and you see yourself in a cycle of release and offending," he said.
"I’m sure you’ve had robust safety plans in place [on release from prison] but for one reason or another you’re simply unable to sustain the effort to comply with them."
Renton was convicted of burglary, dishonestly taking a vehicle, drink-driving and a count of shoplifting from April, when he took three cans of RTDs and two miniature bottles from a liquor store.
The judge ordered him to repay $225 and jailed him for 15 months.
Renton was also banned from driving for six months.
