A serial thief was jailed for 20 months yesterday for a month-long crime spree that included assaulting a security guard.

Melvin Holdipp, 38, earlier pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to four counts of theft, two counts of burglary and one count of serious assault while preventing lawful arrest.

The court heard an employee of Modern Mart conducting a walk-through of the Paget supermarket saw several Hennessy bottles missing from shelves on March 11.

He alerted a manager from the wider MarketPlace group, who reviewed CCTV footage.

The manager saw a man visit the store the day before and place three bottles of Hennessy and a bottle of Chivas Regal in his bag before leaving without paying. The alcohol totalled $274.86.

Michael Frick, for the Crown, told the court Holdipp targeted the store again on March 31 and stole another bottle of Chivas valued at $73.89.

Holdipp also targeted A1 Marketplace in Paget on March 11 and 28, taking seven more bottles of alcohol totalling about $443.84.

Mr Frick said management, who recognised Holdipp from past incidents, confronted him whenever he was seen in their stores but were unaware of the thefts until after he left.

Magistrate Craig Attridge heard that Holdipp targeted Ocean View Golf Course and attacked a security officer that same month.

An employee found broken glass around the premises when he opened the Devonshire club at about 6.30am on March 23.

He reviewed the CCTV footage and saw a man, later identified as Holdipp, smash his way inside and steal $300 in cash, two jackets worth $140 each and $18 worth of soft drinks and water before leaving.

On March 29, a security guard patrolling the club heard a loud bang from the pro shop area and saw a hooded man attempt to flee.

The guard chased the man and caught him before he left the building, resulting in a struggle that ended in the hooded man, discovered to be Holdipp, subdued.

Holdipp pleaded with the guard not to call the police.

However, as the guard was on the phone with officers, Holdipp struck him with a chair and tackled him to the ground.

The court heard that Holdipp punched and kicked the guard multiple times before grabbing a pair of scissors and telling him: “I want all of your freaking money.”

The guard grabbed a golf club to defend himself and Holdipp ran out of the building.

Officers arrived and took the guard to hospital, where he received treatment for bruising to his face, head and hands.

Police found Holdipp on April 4 and arrested him for serious assault and burglary. He was also charged with the four MarketPlace thefts.

Holdipp, of no fixed address, admitted the offences on May 9.

Mr Frick told the court Holdipp committed the offences shortly after being released from prison for a similar stealing spree in 2024.

He urged the court to give Holdipp six months for the thefts and have them run concurrently, but to sentence him to six and eight months for the burglaries and assault, to run consecutively.

Paul Smith, for the defence, reminded the court that his client did not break into any residential spaces, never carried a weapon and attempted to cause minimal damage.

Holdipp added that he attempted to escape before the altercation with the guard and did not want to cause injury.

However, Mr Attridge reminded him: “You were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be.”

He added the guard was within his rights to use force and said: “That’s the risk you take when you go somewhere you’re not supposed to be.”

Mr Attridge sentenced Holdipp to six months’ imprisonment for the thefts and ordered them to run concurrently.

He also sentenced Holdipp to six months’ imprisonment for the burglaries, to run concurrently, and eight months for the assault.

Mr Attridge ordered each category of offence to run consecutively with each other, totalling 20 months in jail.

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