Clayton Cooper, 24, of Glendenning, appeared in Bega Local Court on Tuesday, April 28 via audio-visual link from Goulburn Correctional Centre.

Of the five charges he was due to face, three were withdrawn and he entered guilty pleas for the remaining two - being conveyed in a stolen vehicle, and aggravated break and enter.

Around 4.40am on November 8, 2019, the court was told Cooper allowed himself to be conveyed in a vehicle he knew to have been taken without the consent of the owner, to the Metro Petroleum outlet in Tura Beach.

Along with an unknown accomplice, Cooper kicked in the front door of the servo and they started placing a large number of cigarette packets in a duffle bag.

The service station's manager had been woken up by sounds of the front door breaking. Cooper demanded the location of money and punched the man before taking his wallet and returning to the front of the store.

Police state around $3200 worth of cigarettes were stolen along with the cash register and $5000 in cash. None of it has been recovered to date.

Police located Cooper in Bemboka around 10am that same morning where he was arrested and allegedly made admissions to the crimes, recorded on body-worn cameras. He directed police to Bemboka Bridge where the stolen vehicle was located.

On Tuesday, Bega Local Court heard Cooper was on parole at the time of the offence, with the balance of that separate sentence running through until March 26.

His defence lawyer argued that special circumstances could be applied due to Cooper's "dysfunctional upbringing" and that he did assist police once caught.

The police prosecutor responded by saying the offence was at the "high end of seriousness" heard in local court, an "aggravated offence", and that although there was a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, Cooper was not complying with the terms of his earlier parole.

"I'm not going to trivialise what happened - my job is not to forgive you, my job is to punish you," Magistrate Doug Dick said.

He acknowledged the special circumstances of Cooper's upbringing and indications of substance abuse when sentencing him to an 18 months' non-parole period starting March 26, with a further 18 months of parole to be served upon release.

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