A Victorian magistrate has apologised to a man who spent more than two months behind bars waiting to be dealt with by the courts for minor theft charges.
Talafi Latu, 29, pleaded guilty to two separate thefts of a bike and a battery inverter from outside a Mildura pub last September, and one count of failing to appear in court.
Friday's plea hearing came after Latu had already spent 75 days on remand waiting for his matters to be dealt with.
"I am satisfied that because of your lack of English-language skills and the health crisis in Victoria, the system has failed you. And I apologise for that," magistrate Jon Klestadt told Latu via an interpreter after dismissing the charges against him.
The magistrate told Latu it "would not be fair" to impose a conviction for the thefts, which happened while Latu was drunk, because he had been held far longer than he would have been sentenced to "had the charges come before the court in a timely way".
Latu's lawyer Jacqui Turfrey had asked Mr Klestadt to place her client on a good behaviour bond instead of sentencing him to the jail time he had already served and releasing him, so a conviction would not jeopardise his chances of ever returning to Australia.
Both Ms Turfrey and Mr Klestadt had noted the circumstances were highly unusual.
The court heard Latu's Australian visa has expired and he was likely to be taken into immigration detention on his release from custody.
Mr Klestadt said a good behaviour bond was "unlikely to have any effect" given Latu's imminent deportation, but said he had already been "punished excessively".
"Thank you, your honour," Latu told Mr Klestadt twice through the interpreter at the conclusion of the hearing.
Latu had appeared before the court earlier in the week, but his hearing was adjourned because some of the charges laid against him were filed under a different name which police alleged was an alias but Latu denied any knowledge of.
