A man took a wallet belonging to Patrick Cronin's brother and went on a $987 spending spree, all while the teenage footballer was fatally injured in hospital, in conduct a magistrate has labelled as "disgraceful".
Fatih Ozturk found Lucas Cronin's wallet inside the emergency department of the Royal Melbourne Hospital while Mr Cronin was with his brother, who had been punched at a pub in the hours beforehand.
![Brothers Patrick (left) and Lucas Cronin.](/web/20161102063814im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/g/g/o/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsggz5.png/1478067683034.jpg)
Patrick Cronin, 19, was hit during a brawl at The Windy Mile hotel in Diamond Creek late on the night of April 16.
He left the hotel with friends but was taken to hospital early the following morning. He died on April 18.
![Fatih Ozturk went on a $987 spending spree after finding Lucas Cronin's wallet inside the emergency department of the ...](/web/20161102063814im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/g/g/r/l/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsggz5.png/1478067683034.jpg)
Andrew William Lee, 33, has been charged with one count of murder.
Senior Constable Christine Sykes told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday that Ozturk found the wallet about 3am and instead of handing it in, kept the cash and used the credit cards at a service station, bottle shop, supermarket and convenience store in North Melbourne.
Court documents show Ozturk made 14 transactions and bought groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and thongs. His total spending came to $987.89.
Some of his transactions were caught on CCTV cameras, the court documents say, during which he was wearing a red T-shirt with the words "Thank You" on the front.
After his arrest, when asked by police why he took the wallet, Ozturk said: "Free money, finders keepers, ya know."
He told police he was low on food at the time, the documents say.
Ozturk on Wednesday pleaded guilty to 19 theft and deception charges.
He told the court he should have handed the wallet in, and apologised for the thefts.
Magistrate Peter Dunn asked Ozturk why he shouldn't be jailed and told him: "This is just disgraceful."
Ozturk said he didn't know who the wallet belonged to when he took it, and told the court he had since "cleaned my act up".
He was at the hospital with a friend who had broken her arm, he said.
Mr Dunn told Ozturk he was lucky not to be jailed, and ordered an 18-month community corrections order with conditions he undergo drug counselling and perform 300 hours of unpaid work.