A COLAC man must do 80 hours of community work after pleading guilty to stealing from cars and injecting drugs in a Colac public toilet.

The man, 28, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft from a motor vehicle, one charge of tampering with a motor vehicle as well as possession and use of a prescribed medication.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of failing to answer bail at the Colac Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Eugene Marshall told the court the man tried to open four vehicles parked on Colac’s Hart and McLeod streets, and then stole CDs, video games and DVDs from two other cars on the nights of August 7 and 8.

Sen Const Marshall said the man also bought dexamphetamine tablets from an unknown person on May 11 and injected the drug into himself in Colac’s Hesse Street Comfort Station.

“He didn’t have a prescription for dexamphetamine,” he said.

Defence lawyer Jim Ryan told the court the man was upset after a relative told him “once a junkie, always a junkie” before the offending on the night of August 7.

Mr Ryan said the man went to a friend’s house and took two sleeping pills before going out into Colac’s streets.

“He was informed he had tried to get stuff from vehicles,” he said.

Mr Ryan told the court the man wanted to move away from Colac and improve his life.

“He has made arrangements to rent a place in Belmont, he wants to look for work in Geelong and get away from the Colac scene,” he said.

Magistrate Ron Saines convicted the man and sentenced him to 80 hours’ community service on a community corrections order.

Tags: Drugs, Health, Police and Emergencies