AMount Gambier Magistrate expressed her concerns last week of the difficulty faced by the less vulnerable amid the rising cost of living.


The comments were made by Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos during sentencing last week in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court.


“It is unfortunate that we are living in tough times and as a magistrate it is very hard for me to see people not being able to afford to live but the law is the law and you are not able to take items that do not belong to you,” Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos.


“There’s lots of organisations that help and that’s what our community is there for. We need to help each other and be kind because we do not know when our turn might come to have a downturn.”


Magistrate Kossiavelos made the comments while overseeing a matter involving a former Australian Navy officer who was convicted of stealing a jar of coffee and a bottle of iced coffee from Coles Mount Gambier in January and sentenced to a three month good behaviour bond.