Walter McHughes released after year in Canberra jail for Reid burglary, theft

Walter Robert McHughes, 39, broke in through a window as the 80-year-old victim slept in Reid last November, then took off with a leather handbag that contained about $3000 worth of items.

He did not go far, however, before he abandoned the bag over a garden hedge next door with everything except $500 in cash still inside.

As it turned out, he also left a gift on victim's kitchen bench for police, who found the screwdriver he had used to break in with his DNA on it.

McHughes was accordingly arrested within days of the incident, spending one year and one week behind bars on remand prior to his sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Acting Justice Richard Refshauge ordered his release from custody, imposing a backdated 18-month jail sentence and suspending what remains of it in favour of a good behaviour order.

McHughes had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft over the Reid incident.

He also admitted riding in a motor vehicle without the owner's consent after his DNA was found inside a stolen Toyota Yaris, which had been missing for nearly nine months by the time it turned up in a Kambah car park in July 2020.

Acting Justice Refshauge said the 39-year-old, who had a "long and depressing criminal history", appeared to have been motivated by a need to obtain money for illicit drugs.

He described McHughes' execution of the burglary, which will be the ninth such crime on the offender's adult record, as "inept" in light of him having left behind his DNA.

While carried out clumsily, the offence has left its mark on the elderly victim.

Acting Justice Refshauge said the woman had prepared a victim impact statement, in which she described the invasion of her home as something that had "shattered" the peace she felt in her neighbourhood.

"The safety and serenity that I had taken for granted has endured a battering," the victim wrote.

Nevertheless, the woman graciously added that she prayed her "night visitor" would be able to turn his life around and make positive contributions to society.

McHughes has reached the age of 39 without ever being employed, having endured a disadvantaged childhood that resulted in him leaving school midway through year 9.

Acting Justice Refshauge said the man had been exposed to illicit drugs at an early age, with his dependency on those one factor among many that made the 70 offences listed on his adult criminal record "perhaps unsurprising".

The others included him having an intellectual disability, mental health issues like schizophrenia, and a brain injury sustained in a car crash in 2004.

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McHughes has done a number of stints behind bars over the years, and his latest case was initially referred to Acting Justice Refshauge, who runs the court's drug and alcohol sentencing list, to determine whether a treatment order might help him rehabilitate.

The 39-year-old was deemed unsuitable for such an order, however, leading to him instead being sentenced to the partially suspended jail term on Wednesday.

The offender's drug issues were still clearly in Acting Justice Refshauge's mind as he spoke to directly to McHughes after pronouncing the sentence, telling him his achievement in ceasing illicit substance use while in custody over the last year was "fantastic".

But the judge warned McHughes it would be "very easy to relapse", urging him to seek professional help to stay clean.

"There's no embarrassment, there's no weakness, there's no negativity in seeking help," the judge said.

Acting Justice Refshauge also warned McHughes, who had five previous convictions for driving or riding in a stolen vehicle, to "leave cars alone".

"We've got a great bus system," the judge told him.

"You might even enjoy the tram, though that's a bit controversial."

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