A County Court prosecutor has slammed the state's justice system for failing to provide an appropriate range of sentencing options.
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Prosecutor David Cordy's comments were made yesterday during an appeal by a man he contended had been jailed due to a lack of services to cater for him.
The man has an intellectual disability and "a complex long-term history", the court heard.
He was appealing a six-month prison sentence from the Magistrates' Court for repeatedly stealing alcohol from bottle shops.
Mr Cordy told the court the man had numerous convictions for similar offences and his interaction with the justice system was "like a revolving door".
"He got four months back on January 10 and gets out and offends straight away," he said, listing several of the man's recent prior offences and sentences.
The case was "a classic example of the abject failure" of the system "to provide proper facilities for people who are ill and need proper support", Mr Cordy said.
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The government seemed to like spending money on things other than resourcing the system, he observed, adding that governments of both political persuasions were responsible for the failures of the system.
Judge Geoffrey Chettle agreed the Magistrate's six-month sentence didn't represent a serious attempt to tackle the root causes of the man's offending.
"All the Magistrate has done is put the problem away for six months," Judge Chettle said.
Justice Chettle also noted the offender had stolen "some Glenlivet ... a good bottle of scotch," which he described as "appalling".
The man was being tasked to steal alcohol by others, in exchange for cigarettes, the court heard. He had trouble accessing money because had been banned from all the banks in Bendigo because of disruptively loud behaviour. There was also "a little bit of violence" in his criminal record.
Lawyer Karin Temperley argued the cost to society of keeping her client in custody was greater than having him free but Justice Chettle was unsatisfied with the provisions to look after him and observed it was "the bottle-o's who [would] pay the price".
He ordered a psychiatric and justice report be prepared and adjourned the case until September.
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