A series of late-night break-ins targeted nearly 30 Canberra businesses, leaving behind tampered ATMs, pried-open safes, and thousands of dollars in stolen cash and electronics.
In an ACT Supreme Court decision published in September 2026, Daniel Robert Weldon, 49, was sentenced to just over seven years in prison, with a non-parole period ending in December 2028.
He was convicted of 15 aggravated burglaries and two thefts stemming from the crime spree.
The offending unfolded in single-night runs between September and October 2022.
During some of these raids, Weldon and unidentified accomplices hit businesses together, with Weldon wearing a black-and-white Scream mask while prying open doors and cash registers.
At Brew & Brew Café, he spent more than an hour inside using a 160cm crowbar to tamper with an ATM before stealing a safe containing $6500 and a $1000 tip jar.
He then targeted Questacon Atomic Café, stealing money from two tills and a safe.
At KFC Fyshwick, he forced open the front door with a crowbar and took $1850 from a safe, while at FishCo Fish Market he forced open multiple safes beneath the counter to steal $2380 in staff pay packets.
During other raids, Weldon and his accomplices made off with thousands of dollars in cash, a laptop, and up to $10,000 worth of stolen cigarettes and tobacco pouches.
Weldon expressed remorse and shared insights into his offending during a sentencing conversation with an Indigenous Elders Panel on the court's Circle Sentencing List.
In a report prepared for the court, Weldon also said he was "sorry for the losses and disruption that had been experienced by the businesses that had been targeted".
Justice Louise Taylor described the crime spree as "an extensive criminal enterprise" that caused significant inconvenience and financial loss to local business owners.
"The only just and appropriate outcome for the offending is a sentence of imprisonment," she said, as the court also took into account additional offending by Weldon.
The judge noted Weldon had a significant criminal history of similar offending, alongside diagnoses of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder, and substance use disorder.
She said his disadvantaged childhood and "significant and complex" untreated trauma helped explain some of his offending, but were also reasons for caution about his prospects of rehabilitation.
She acknowledged Weldon had grown "weary" of substance addiction and genuinely desired reform to be present for his family and contribute to his community.
