A man who broke into the home of a man he met online grabbed a handful of his underpants before quickly jumping into a wardrobe to hide after he was interrupted by the victim arriving home.

Tony Dunnill had dropped some of the victim’s underwear in the process and when the victim went into his room to get changed, he saw Dunnill hiding in his wardrobe and “sweating profusely”.

Today, the New Plymouth District Court heard Dunnill and the victim were both users of an online dating site but had never met in person.

Dunnill managed to obtain the victim’s address from the internet and on September 9, 2023, he went to his house in Matua, Tauranga.

Summarising the case, Judge Tony Greig said Dunnill made his way into the man’s house through an unsecured door at the back of the property.

“You went into the complainant’s bedroom and you began going through underwear from the drawers with intent to steal them, and you hid some of the items on your person.

“The complainant arrived home, which caused you to hide in the wardrobe, dropping some of the complainant’s underwear on the floor in the process.

“The complainant went into his bedroom to get changed and then saw you in his wardrobe. You were sweating profusely.”

Judge Greig said the police were called and when they arrived, Dunnill was still at the man’s house.

Tony Dunnill was sentenced in New Plymouth District Court. Photo / Tara Shaskey

“Later he noticed that at least two pairs of underwear missing as well as some stuffed into the back of the couch that you’d been sitting on while he made you wait for the police.”

Dunnill later messaged the victim through the online dating site and admitted he had stolen his underwear and said he wanted to keep a pair.

Defence lawyer Caroline Silk told the judge that while Dunnill had pleaded guilty to the burglary charge, there were parts of the summary of facts he did not agree with.

But he accepted he was at the house, that he shouldn’t have been there and that he took some items of clothing, she said.

Judge Greig referred to information provided to the court and said he could not understand what caused Dunnill’s life to take a downturn.

“An apparently successful man with a business of his own for years and years and is now living in his car, there’s a big gap in the information.”

Silk said Dunnill, who previously lived in Tauranga, had supplied the restaurant trade with mushrooms for years but had to pivot during the Covid-19 pandemic and began growing a part of the mushroom which he then sold to other growers.

She said someone owed him money and he allowed his creditors to get out of control.

As a result, he couldn’t pay his rent and eventually ended up living in his car.

Silk told the judge there were also mental health issues at play.

“He then found himself online, looking for something, is the only way to describe it,” she said.

“A rush of blood to the head, made a stupid mistake, went into this person’s house.”

However, Dunnill was now living in New Plymouth and had accommodation and was in the most stable position he had been in since pre-Covid.

Crown prosecutor Molly Tutton-Harris said the victim was seeking reparation for a broken lock and two t-shirts and three pairs of undies he said were stolen.

In sentencing Dunnill, Judge Greig said the prosecution had sought a sentence of imprisonment which would be less than two years and therefore home detention could be considered.

But Dunnill did not have an appropriate home detention address and Judge Greig said the only options were prison or community work.

“Normally I would have no hesitation in sending a burglar to prison,” he said.

“In your case, however, it seems clear that it is mental ill health and the downturn of your life that has led to this offending and it appears that you might be slowly rebuilding your life.

“It would be an act of cruelty to send you to prison.”

The judge sentenced Dunnill to 250 hours of community work and ordered him to pay the victim $1000 in emotional harm reparation.

-Bay of Plenty Times