An antisocial act has earned a man a year of community service for stealing a gorilla statue from a nursing home.
Matthew Newbould pleaded guilty last month to the theft of a 20kg garden ornament named ‘Garry’ from a retirement home in St Helena, north-east Melbourne, on June 6.
He was also stripped of his driving rights at the time, after losing his driver’s license in July 2023.
Judge Michael Wighton convicted Newbould of theft and disqualification from driving. He was given a community service order of 100 hours unpaid, spread over 12 months.
Wighton noted that Newbould had previously served a prison sentence for more serious charges and had previously breached a court order.
“You still get yourself into trouble for stupid things,” Wighton said.
“I mean, making really stupid decisions, like stealing things like the gorilla, can get you into pretty big trouble.”
‘LOL I stole a gorilla’
Newbould had spotted the statue of Garry the gorilla in the nursing home when he and a friend were buying a chest of drawers.
He picked up the statue and loaded it into a van he hired from Bunnings. A bystander called the police after seeing Garry sitting in the back of the vehicle.
Victoria Police’s Airwing assisted in locating the 1.5-metre-high statue in a backyard.
Newbould was arrested on July 5 and a search of his phone turned up text messages to friends, including one that read: “LOL, I stole a gorilla, now what?”
Police returned the 20-kilogram statue to the nursing home in July. Source: Delivered / SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE
Wighton took into account Newbould’s mental health issues and drug abuse in his decision, and therefore decided not to extend the offender’s driving ban, which still had almost three years left in effect.
“If you violate the penalty by committing new offences or by failing to comply with the penalty, you may appear before the court again and receive a new sentence,” the magistrate said.
In early July, police returned gorilla Garry to Leith Park nursing home, where he has been living in peace ever since.
DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
