Homeless man Daniel Crotty, who stole a bike from a Bunbury tourist’s car’s roof-top canopy back behind bars

A homeless man who stole a bike from a tourist’s car’s roof-top canopy at a Bunbury hotel has been placed behind bars. Daniel Crotty, 45, appeared in Bunbury Magistrates Court on Monday via video link from Bunbury Regional Prison where he pleaded guilty to the stealing charge. Between the evening and early morning hours of February 3 and 4, Crotty entered the carpark of Bunbury Hotel Koombana Bay where he accessed the roof-top canopy of a parked vehicle, taking a blue and white racing bike, valued at $1200. At 9.30am the following day, Crotty was located sleeping in a park with the bike when he was arrested by police. The man has remained in custody since then. Crotty’s lawyer told the court the man was homeless at the time of offending, having just come out of prison, and that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time the incident occurred. Though the incident is considered to be at the lower end of seriousness, the offending triggered a jail term relating to a suspended imprisonment order Crotty had been placed on for a prior charge of common assault. Magistrate Benjamin Tyers handed down an eight month sentence for the man, backdated to February 4, saying the man had a “considerable history of dishonest offending”. He also fined Crotty $500 related to the assault and ordered $600 in reparation to the victim of the stealing.