NRL player’s court win after break-in charge

A one-time NRL player turned professional boxer has been cleared of allegations he broke into a Sydney smash repair shop and stole tools, with a judge stating “suspicion was not a substitute for proof”.
Willis Pele Meehan, 29, was sentenced to 12 months in prison in February before Burwood Local Court after being found guilty of breaking and entering and stealing items valued at less than $60,000.

Police alleged Mr Meehan broke into the smash repair shop in Auburn in Sydney’s inner west on October 14, 2022 before making off with tools, including spray painters, sockets, sanders, a watch and a leaf blower.

The one-time Rooster appealed his conviction and appeared before Downing Centre District Court on Thursday where Judge Robyn Tupman said while there was “a strong suspicion linking (Mr Meehan) to this offence, suspicion is no substitute for proof”.

The court was told the Crown case was one of “circumstantial” evidence which they said connected Mr Meehan to the break-in, including visual similarities in his appearance in police interviews and a man pictured in CCTV video during the break-in months earlier.

Three sets of CCTV footage were tendered to the court – two from the store and one from a neighbouring business – with one video showing a man with a backpack and a head torch in the carpark of the smash repair shop shortly before midnight.

While Ms Tupman said there was “no doubt” there were similarities between Mr Meehan and the person captured in CCTV footage from the neighbouring business, she questioned whether they were the same person.

“The Crown must prove that the only rational inference from the combination of circumstances is that, taken together, this means (Mr Meehan) is the person who broke in and committed this offence,” Ms Tupman said in her judgment.

“There is doubt about whether or not the person shown in exhibit 2 (CCTV from the shop) is the same person as in exhibit 3 (CCTV from next door). There is also no explanation for what appears to be a more than three hour time gap in the footage.

“There is no evidence of the person (in CCTV) or anyone carrying out a large quantity of tools, and the backpack worn by the person is not big enough to transport the sort of items stolen,” with the exception of the leaf blower, she added.

The police prosecutor also noted a palm print matching Mr Meehan’s had been collected by police on a set of drawers in the store’s otherwise locked back office, though the importance of the match was disputed by Mr Meehan’s lawyers.

The defence argued in court on Thursday the Crown had been unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the print was left on the drawers during the break-in, and had not potentially been placed there sometime earlier.

“Given the item on which his palm print was found was a movable item with no evidence as to when that item was put there, there is an evidentiary basis for your Honour to not be satisfied it must have been Mr Meehan who placed his hand on that item at the relevant time,” the boxer’s lawyer told Judge Tupman.

Mr Meehan would have been released from custody in March having been ordered to undertake rehabilitation following his sentence, but returned to custody on remand after he was charged with weapon and fraud offences.

The one-time NRL player pleaded guilty to possessing an unauthorised firearm and conspiring to dishonestly obtain financial gain last month. He will front Parramatta Local Court for sentence on September 27.

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