12:00a.m. 13 November 2007

| By Rae Wilson

An older man promised a 25-year-old deaf man a holiday, inclusion in his will and gifts in exchange for stealing drugs and money from a veterinary clinic.

Jared Benjamin Warden, who has profound hearing difficulties, required an interpreter to convey proceedings when he pleaded guilty in Maroochydore District Court yesterday to breaking into and stealing from a Highfields surgery, north of Toowoomba.

The Nambour man, now 27, had an “intimate knowledge” of the clinic because he had volunteered to work with the animals for a long period.

Mr Warden broke in twice — on November 15, 2005, and February 11, 2006 — through a rear window.

He knew the safe key location, so he lit fireworks near the safe to make it look like it had been blown up. Mr Warden stole more than $2600 and drugs.

He walked into a police station the following June and confessed.

Documents handed to the court revealed Mr Warden told police he was in a relationship with a much older man and “he felt he owed his boyfriend something for the various gifts he received”.

He said the man had promised him a trip around Australia, inclusion in his will, a laptop, metal-detecting devices and other gifts.

Mr Warden said he gave all the cash to his boyfriend, who was waiting outside.

The court heard Mr Warden had four pages of criminal history, including similar offences, and had been in jail.

Barrister David James said his client had been assaulted, including being put in a dryer, and was the subject of ridicule in prison.

He said Mr Warden, who also suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, was easily led despite being socially and morally mature.

Mr Warden was sentenced to 18 months in jail with immediate parole, which means he will go straight to jail if he breaks the law. He was ordered to repay $2600.

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