A pair of former George Town residents has avoided jail time after police found them in possession of stolen goods worth more than $35,000.
Shinea Maree Johnstone, 36, and Adam Dale Lapham, 25, appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court over their joint possession of stolen property.
They originally faced aggravated burglary and stealing charges, although police dropped the burglary charge and amended the stealing one.
Police prosecutor Beri Kurdistan said a George Town home was burgled early January 2023.
The thieves made off with clothes, jewellery, computers and other electronic items including a DVD player, and a convection oven worth a total of $35,766.
A V Energy drink can with Lapham's DNA was found on a table, and Johnstone's fingerprint was found on a cardboard box elsewhere in the home.
Police searched Johnstone's father's home, where the woman and Lapham were living, for an unrelated reason later that month and found some of the stolen property in a crawl space under the house.
Johnstone's defence lawyer, Lucy Flanagan, told the court another woman who was living with Johnstone, her father, and Lapham had asked for a lift to the burgled home the day of the break-in.
Ms Flanagan said her client thought there was "nothing suspicious" about the request given it was the middle of the day.
She said this other person, who was well known to the courts, went into the home for some time, and when she came out of the building she was carrying several items, which she loaded into the car with Johnstone's help.
The other woman then took some of the items back into the house and returned with other goods, which Ms Flanagan said was the reason for Johnstone's fingerprint being found at the scene.
The court heard the offending happened while Johnstone was subject to a good behaviour bond after being found in the possession of a stolen Toyota LandCruiser worth $99,999.99.
Magistrate Evan Hughes noted this was an "interesting price" as it fell just within the threshold for remaining in the lower court rather than being committed to the Supreme Court.
Lapham was unrepresented throughout proceedings, and said little to the magistrate apart from that he "should have been more aware" of what had been going on in relation to the theft and stolen property.
Although the pair were sentenced separately, Mr Hughes made similar remarks in both cases and criticised them for encouraging further thefts, as possessing stolen property gave thieves the opportunity to offload stolen goods.
"If people don't take stolen property into their possession or control, it doesn't fuel further crime," he said.
Mr Hughes sentenced Johnstone to six weeks' jail, wholly suspended for 18 months, while Lapham received a $1500 fine.