Serial boot thief who stole thousands of dollars worth of footwear fined
A serial boot thief has been handed a $4000 fine after stealing shoes from front porches.
The diagnosed kleptomaniac stockpiled $7000 worth of stolen work boots and running shoes inside his home.
But police were hot on his heels after he was caught on CCTV – after a six-year-long mystery.
Andrew Muster struck in the dead of night, taking 2400 pairs of shoes – roughly one per day – from the front porches of houses in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Between 2012 and 2017, he amassed a stockpile of shoes inside his bedrooms and garage.
They were mostly work boots – some with the victim’s socks still inside.
The haul became part of Victoria Police’s largest-ever shoe haul in February, as owners were urged to come forward and reclaim their stolen booty.
The 44-year-old said there was no real reason for the thefts other than that he had “liked shoes for a long time.”
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He went barefoot during the thefts so he wouldn’t be heard.
A court heard Muster was a diagnosed kleptomaniac who also hoarded other items, including cleaning products and food.
The Magistrate conceded that his was more of a mental health issue than a criminal case.
He is already seeing a psychiatrist and was given a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Muster will also have to foot the bill for his crime spree, ordered to pay a $4000 fine.
