Musician Jarrod Nicholas Henry avoids jail after stealing $44k of guitar gear from Myaree’s Mega Music

A musician who stole guitars and other equipment worth $44,000 has avoided immediate jail time, but must repay thousands to the Myaree music shop where he once worked.

Jarrod Nicholas Henry pleaded guilty to 46 charges, including 42 counts of stealing as a servant and four counts of gains benefit by fraud, at Fremantle Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The stolen items included Gippsland guitars, guitar pedals, effects and other accessories which were worth anywhere between about $100 and $5000 each.

Henry, who worked at Mega Music in Myaree from November 2018 to August 2020, stole the items predominately from the shop’s back storeroom and often did so just for the “self-gratification” of being able to gift them to friends and family, the court was told.

The 47-year-old also pawned some of the stolen items for cash.

The court was told Henry had been a part of Perth’s music scene for several years, including working as a music teacher and performing with bands before he started at Mega Music.

He even took part in a charity concert to raise money for eastern states bushfire victims in January 2020, as part of a musical ensemble at Fremantle Navy Club.

At Fremantle court on Tuesday police prosecutor Mark Henry said the musician should be jailed, as well as made to pay back the value of the stolen music equipment.

Henry’s lawyer pushed for a suspended sentence that included a community-based order and an opportunity to take part in a rehabilitation program.

She said her client was “remorseful and embarrassed” and had been going through a personal crisis following the death of his mother and the breakdown of his defacto relationship, and had been forced to sell his house to pay off debts.

Henry felt “little self-worth” and had been suffering mental health issues at the time, the lawyer said, and now had been “alienated” by WA’s small music industry.

Magistrate Adam Hills-Wright described the thefts as serious crimes that represented a “breach of trust” but said Henry’s relatively clean record, need for mental health support and the lack of a victim statement from Mega Music, gave him the benefit of the doubt.

He sentenced Henry to 20-months imprisonment, but the time was conditionally suspended for two years, meaning he doesn’t go to jail unless he breaches conditions or doesn’t attend required rehabilitation programs. Henry was also ordered to compensate his former employer $44,000.