Harrison Clissold sentenced for Canberra Centre's Apple store burglary

"At the time I made some stupid decisions," the offender, previously described as a "man of few words", said in a short letter addressed to the court.

Harrison Frank Clissold showed up half an hour late to his ACT Supreme Court sentencing on Monday wearing a grey hooded jumper he used to hide from media cameras.

The 19-year-old, who has pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and theft, sat seemingly disinterested in learning his fate, either leaning forward with his head bowed or backward looking up at the ceiling.

He was handed an 18-month intensive correction order to be served in the community, and ordered to complete 20 hours of community service.

Justice Belinda Baker said there had been conflicting reports about Clissold's remorse and that he had expressed different attitudes towards his offending to different people.

However, the judge accepted the man had shown some insight into his crimes through the 57-word letter and conversations with his parents, whom he has been curfewed to live with.

She said Clissold's motivation for the offending "remains quite opaque".

Justice Baker said the man had acted with "poor judgement" and a "lack of consequential thinking" when he drunkenly offended only two weeks after turning 18.

He and a co-offender, who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time, stole 29 iPhones, nine AirPods headphones and 10 Beats headphones on January 19, 2022.

The pair entered the Canberra Centre in the early hours of the morning after the co-offender smashed a hole through a window with a hammer and reached through to press the exit button.

They eventually made their way into the Apple store through its front glass entrance, and to a locked storeroom.

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They filled five bags with products totalling $60,791 before exiting the store, when they were confronted by a Canberra Centre security guard.

The two teenagers ran away, with one bag being dropped during the chase, before they escaped out the centre's front entry.

Clissold and the co-offender were later recorded discussing the crimes over the phone while the latter was remanded at Bimberi Youth Justice Centre.

"What's happening with your ial-ay tr-ay?" the co-offender said in a failed attempt to use "Pig Latin" as a disguise.

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