Bradley-James Grant Colban is sentenced to nine months' home detention and ordered to pay reparation of $12,838 that he racked up on a spending spree, charging tools and petrol to various companies.

In a Catch Me If You Can style spending spree, a Palmerston North man charged $12,334 of tools and petrol to companies, as well as tampering with a $444 cheque.

Bradley-James Grant Colban, 23, had 31 charges to his name when he arrived in the Palmerston North District Court on Monday, including a variety of dishonesty and deception charges.

He was ordered to pay back $12,838 in reparation and sentenced to nine months of home detention.

Judge David Smith took into account that they were Colban's first dishonesty charges, his early guilty plea, and a head injury Colban suffered eight years ago.

READ MORE: Porirua, Feilding, Wellington hardware stores hit by Rongotea man

​Colban's offending began with a visit to Repco in Porirua in October 2015 where he purchased tools valued at $4400 and charged them to the Garratt Motor Group in Feilding. Colban took a variety of items including a 44-piece socket set, spanner set, spark plugs sets and wire.

Smith said Colban had given the excuse that he was "in a bind" after crashing his car.

That same month Colban visited a Bunnings in Porirua and repeated the act, purchasing a nail gun and charging items to another company.

He purchased another nail gun at Bunnings in Palmerston North and charged it to the company as well, in addition to other items including paint, plants and tools. The total value from both stores ended up at $9902.

In December he took a fuel card from former employer Lee Builders and used it without permission to buy petrol on 20 occasions, obtaining various amounts of between $50 and $100.

He went to Mitre 10 Palmerston North and purchased items ranging between $78 to $305, charging Lee Builders.

In total, reparation of $2432 was sought by Lee Builders.

Further charges were added, including tampering with a cheque of $444 by putting his name on it. He went to BNZ Feilding and cashed it.

On March 15 he stole fuel worth $60 from a private property and took an ASB eftpos card to top up a cellphone.

On April 15 he stole a $285 mountainbike from Green Bikes. Further, he approached someone at Green Bikes and told them he was authorised to take $80, before stealing another $100 from the till.

Lawyer Tony Thackery said Colban had suffered a head injury at age 15 after being hit in the head with a discus.

Thackery said there were "certainly" issues related to Colban's ability to consider long-term effects of his actions.

Colban had also been in a motor vehicle accident in January that gave him difficulty with memory, concentration and fatigue, Thackery said.

Smith said the head injury was a mitigating factor but there was no evidence that he was "incapable of reasoning right from wrong".

Smith also noted that the motor vehicle accident came after the majority of the offending.