A Launceston man who posed as a firefighter to swindle thousands of dollars from local businesses has avoided immediate jail time.
Shane Mark Hughes, 35, recently pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud in the Launceston Supreme Court.
The court heard that Hughes obtained a genuine firefighter’s uniform from a friend employed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and used it to deceive businesses into providing goods on the department’s account.
The scam was carried out over a week in October 2022 and resulted in fraudulent invoices totalling $19,994.35.
When police searched Hughes’s home a month later, none of the goods could be found.
During questioning, Hughes confessed to the scam but claimed he was heavily into drugs and couldn’t remember everything.
Acting Justice David Porter said Hughes’s actions were “of a serious nature” and involved taking advantage of the trust of business owners.
“The fact that the crimes seem to have been ‘easy’ to commit does not mitigate the offending,” he said.
“They involve masquerading as a person of some authority within government and taking advantage of the trust of those in the businesses involved.”
Acting Justice Porter acknowledged that Hughes had a troubled past and was battling a meth addiction at the time of the offences.
Hughes was sentenced to nine months behind bars but will only serve the sentence if he reoffends within the next 18 months.
He was also ordered to pay back $9,997.18, half of the money he stole.
