A Tungamah man broke into a Yarrawonga school server room, defecated inside and stole laptops before throwing them off a weir when he couldn’t sell them, a court has heard.

The man faced Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Monday pleading guilty to multiple offences within the Wangaratta and Yarrawonga areas.

The court heard the man committed thefts of nearly $1000 worth of various items, mostly within Wangaratta retail and food and drink stores from July this year.

On one occasion he stole an air fryer from Kmart Wangaratta and when arrested couldn’t give it back to police, having sold it for cigarettes.

His most serious burglary came in the early hours of 14 October when he broke into Yarrawonga College through a window.

He made his way into the server room and stole multiple laptops, including one belonging to a staff member.

He defecated on the floor and wall before making his way out.

He was arrested on 21 October, telling police he had thrown the laptops off a weir when he couldn’t sell them because they were password protected.

Many of his offences were committed while he was on bail.

Defence counsel Geoff Clancy said his client stole all of the items to sell off and buy drugs and alcohol.

Mr Clancy said the man was seeing mental health workers in Wangaratta and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Magistrate Megan Casey adjourned the matter to 2 February to undergo a community corrections order assessment and a psychologist assessment.