A man who broke into the rental home of comedian Hamish Blake and his businesswoman wife Zoe Foster Blake while they slept and stole their luxury car has learned his fate.
Daniel Booth broke into the four-bedroom home the high-profile couple was renting in Woollahra, in Sydney’s bright eastern suburbs, on December 20, 2021.
Court documents reveal the 35-year-old man broke into the kitchen of the $4,900-a-week rental home at 6am and stole the keys to the couple’s Land Rover Defender while they slept.
Mr and Mrs Blake had been renting the house over Christmas 2021 while they renovated their $8.92 million home in the seaside suburb of Vaucluse.
Daniel Booth broke into Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster Blake’s home on December 20, 2021.
He also stole Ms Foster Blake’s purse, which contained the keys to her white Tesla, $1,000 in cash, a very expensive designer wallet and her driver’s licence.
Booth got into the Tesla without the beauty expert’s permission, but left it parked on the property with the key inside, according to court documents.
However, he took the Land Rover, which is valued at more than $123,000 and contained thousands of dollars in camping and fishing equipment.
Mr Blake activated the luxury car’s tracking device and tracked it to an address in Redfern.
Police arrived and arrested Booth, who had Ms Foster Blake’s car key and purse in his possession.
The Blakes were renting a house in Woollahra while they renovated their $8.95 million home in Vaucluse.
The arrest ended his long crime spree, which began on the afternoon of December 3, 2021 when he stole a gray Volkswagen convertible while the owner watched.
Court documents indicated that Booth left with the car door and trunk still open in his haste to flee the scene.
He then walked into a cafe in Waterloo and snatched a pink and brown Guess bag from a woman, who bravely chased after him as he jumped into the stolen Volkswagen.
She managed to recover her purse and a passerby took the car key, so Booth was forced to flee on foot.
The couple was sleeping when the robbery occurred.
In the early hours of December 14, Booth again broke into a house and stole the keys to a gray Audi A3 and a Calvin Klein bag.
She found debit cards in the stolen purse and used them to her advantage, spending hundreds of dollars on cigarettes alone.
The stolen car was located in a car park in Redfern, close to where Booth was living at the time of his arrest.
He also admitted touching a Correctional Services officer while in custody before telling her: “I’m sorry, miss.”
Booth appeared in Sydney’s Downing Center District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a series of charges related to the crime spree.
He was wearing black-framed glasses and a prison green T-shirt as he was brought into the courtroom via audio-visual link.
Judge Donna Woodburne SC told the court that Booth was on parole at the time of his offending, having only been released from prison two weeks earlier.
The charges for which he was sentenced include two offenses of aggravated burglary with intent to commit a felony, robbing a person, taking and driving a conveyance, and sexually touching another person without their consent.
Zoe Foster Blake and her husband Hamish Blake in Italy
Judge Woodburne also took into account three counts of taking and driving a car without the owner’s consent, entering a vehicle without the owner’s consent, seven counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception, stealing an article worth less than $2000 and sexually touching another person. person without consent.
She told the court that Booth had a difficult childhood, and that his grandparents were part of the stolen generation which severely affected his family.
The court was told the 35-year-old had only been out of prison for a total of one year of his adult life.
“It is clear that Mr Booth’s life has been marred by significant degradation and trauma,” the judge said.
“He is a man who is not well physically and psychologically… which triggered his trauma and caused him considerable psychological stress.”
Judge Woodburne sentenced Booth to a total prison term of four years, with a non-parole period of two years, two months and four days.
The sentence was retroactive to his arrest on December 20, 2021, meaning he is eligible for parole on Friday.
He will not be released on parole, but his lawyers can petition the State Parole Authority for his release.