Sex Toy Robber was Fined

A man who followed a stranger into a hotel room and assaulted him before stealing a bag of sex toys has been fined $1100.

Andrew William Shade pleaded guilty in Darwin Magistrates Court yesterday to assault, threatening behaviour in public and stealing.

Prosecutor Simon Lee said Shade, who was 22 at the time, spoke to the male victim about "getting chicks" in the foyer of the Value Inn on Mitchell St in March, 2003, before following him up to his room and forcing his way in.

Mr Lee said Shade pushed the victim and stood in the way of him escaping until the victim jumped out the window, breaking his heel.

Shade took a bag of sex toys from the room, as well as the victim's wallet. Mr Lee said the wallet was recovered, but not the bag of toys or the cash inside the wallet.

Shade's lawyer Colin Baker said Shade could not remember much of the incident, or what it was about.

Shade had been on a fishing boat for three months and arrived in Darwin earlier on the day of the incident - he had been drinking heavily and had also taken drugs.

Mr Baker said Shade handed himself in to a security officer at the hotel, who called the police, and waited to be arrested.

But after he was released on bail, Shade fled to Queensland where he did a drug rehabilitation program.

Police officers told him there was a warrant out for his arrest when he applied for a liquor permit on Groote Eylandt recently, and he handed himself into the court.

Magistrate Daynor Trigg said the circumstances of the offence were "unusual".

"One can only speculate as to what the reason for your offending was," he said. "Clearly the victim was in fear. He didn't know what you were after, he didn't know if you were there to assault him, for sexual assault or for dishonesty offences."

Mr Trigg said imprisonment was not warranted over the charges, and fined Shade $1100 across the three charges.