Jyle Wayne McBeath, 28, sentenced after pleading guilty to multiple stealing and criminal damage charges

A Harvey man has narrowly avoided jail for his role in multiple stealing offences in which the items were valued at about $48,000. Jyle Wayne McBeath, 28, was sentenced at Harvey Magistrates Court on November 27 after earlier pleading guilty to three charges each of stealing and unlawful trespass, alongside one charge of destruction of property. The prosecution said the first set of offences occurred at 6am on June 29 in Newman, with McBeath and two others arriving at a BHP power substation off Welsh Drive. After one of the co-offenders snapped the lock off the gate, a Hino truck was driven into the substation grounds, with about $30,000 worth of copper cabling taken. A BHP employee saw the incident and alerted police, who searched the vehicle on Great Northern Highway and discovered the stolen copper. McBeath told officers “I was just going on a road trip” when questioned about the incident. Between July 24 and July 25, McBeath and an accused co-offender forced entry into Express Plumbing in Davenport. A vehicle was parked in the premises while the pair looked for items to steal. A big tool box and a number of other items were stolen to the value of $18,000, which have not been recovered. The final incident occurred at 4.30am on July 31, with McBeath parking a white Holden Rodeo on the side of Robertson Drive in Davenport and cutting chain-mesh fence at the rear of Total Salvage Bunbury. He then located copper wire within the property and moved it to the fence in preparation to load it on to the vehicle before police arrived at the scene. McBeath was located by officers hiding in nearby bushes. The alleged co-offenders for the first two incidents are set to appear in court at a later date. McBeath’s defence lawyer downplayed his client’s role in the incidents, stating he had a cognitive impairment and had been “taken advantage” of by one of the alleged co-accused for his “lack of awareness”. The court was told the co-accused allegedly asked McBeath “do you want to earn some money”, before all three accused offenders took a 12-hour drive to Newman. The same co-accused is alleged to have told McBeath he had stuff to load up from Express Plumbing during the incident at the property, and stayed in the vehicle during the final incident. Magistrate Joanne Andretich accepted McBeath was “easily led” by another party and remorseful, but noted he had offended on three separate occasions and the items stolen were of “substantial value”. McBeath was sentenced to a 12 month imprisonment, conditionally suspended for the same period. He also pleaded guilty to possessing 1g of cannabis, with an order made for it to be destroyed.