Geelong man stole car ‘before overdose put him in hospital’

By Michelle Herbison
A HEROIN overdose put a Geelong man in hospital on the day he broke into and stole a van, a court has heard.
Adam Hill, 32, of Swanston St, Geelong, faced the city’s magistrates court this week on theft and drink driving charges.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Geoff Lamb told the court Hill broke into a locked Ford van in Swanston St on the evening of January 18.
“He forced the steering wheel lock sufficient for it to break,” Snr Const Lamb said.
Hill drove the van to Latrobe Tce and left it near Kardinia Cafe.
Snr Const Lamb said Hill told police he was “a bit screwed up at the time” and “really had no reason” for the theft.
Defence lawyer Lauren Matthews said Hill was admitted to Geelong Hospital the same day.
“On that day he was found on the streets with a heroin overdose,” she said.
Hill had little memory of the events but “acknowledges he’s done the wrong thing”.
Snr Const Lamb also told the court Hill drove with a blood alcohol limit of .155 on March 7.
Ms Matthews told the court Hill had been working to regain control of his life in recent years but in December had “relapsed for the first time since 2008”.
“Although he has fallen off the tracks he’s making an effort to put it right again,” she said.
The mother of Hill’s two children died from a heroin overdose in February and he hoped to regain custody of them, the court heard.
The children were in the care of their grandparents and Hill was living with his parents.
He had worked in various jobs including a newsagency and a horse-riding school, had attended counselling support groups and had sought medical treatment.
Magistrate Stephen Myall disqualified Hill from driving for 30 months and placed him on a 12-month community corrections order to undergo rehabilitation for drugs, alcohol, mental and other health issues.