A magistrate has condemned the "disgusting behaviour" of a serial thief whose crimes include stealing from a social enterprise that provides meaningful jobs for people with disabilities.
Sarah Helen Brookman cried in court on Wednesday afternoon as Magistrate Bernadette Boss said she had continually treated people like "personal playthings" and acted without a care for anyone else.
The 22-year-old Gungahlin woman was set to be sentenced on nine charges including robbery and four counts of theft.
The charges related to six sets of offending between October 2019 and January this year.
But Dr Boss ultimately decided to give Brookman, a drug user, the chance to complete residential rehabilitation while weighing up whether to send her to jail.
Documents tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court reveal that in one incident, Brookman took a cash tray containing about $300 and other items from a van belonging to the owner of Krofne Donuts.
Krofne Donuts is a social enterprise that employs people with special needs and uses its profits to help vulnerable people.
Brookman's other thefts took place at First Choice Liquor, Priceline and Kmart stores, from which she stole whisky, perfumes and "bag clip bunnies". At Kmart, she threatened a manager with a hammer.
She also robbed an Aldi supermarket and threw a packet of muesli bars into the forehead of a store supervisor who tried to stop her fleeing.
Some of the crimes involved the use of co-offenders who were underage, like a teenage girl whose school bag Brookman used to hide the stolen cash tray in the Krofne Donuts case.
Brookman's lawyer told the court the 22-year-old was particularly "embarrassed and humiliated" about the theft from that business.
The lawyer said Brookman had taken the cash tray from "a nondescript white van" without knowing it was connected to a social enterprise.
"[After that discovery] it really hit home that her offending had a ripple effect ... and unintended consequences that she did not turn her mind to," he said.
The lawyer said Brookman's offending was "drug-fuelled", and that her addiction had resulted in her two-year-old son being removed from her care.
Dr Boss responded by saying drugs may have taken away Brookman's inhibitions, but the 22-year-old still kept choosing to behave in a "disgusting" way.
"She treats other people like her personal playthings, like she's the only person in the world with any concerns," Dr Boss said.
"The victim of one of these offences has had his life destroyed."
Dr Boss did not elaborate on who that victim was or how Brookman had destroyed his life.
She said only a sentence of imprisonment was appropriate, and indicated she would impose a six-month jail term.
But the magistrate said there was still hope for the young mother, who had managed to stay out of trouble since January.
Dr Boss said she would suspend the six-month jail sentence if Brookman attended and successfully completed a residential rehabilitation program.
Brookman agreed to enter into such a program and Dr Boss set the matter down to return to court in April next year to check on her progress.
