A Wodonga man who stole a huge haul of items from building sites across the city has been jailed for at least six months, with a magistrate noting he had hit soft targets and impacted tradesmen. But Dylan James King, 28, spent just a few hours in custody at the Wodonga Police Station after his recent court appearance after appealing. King stole $20,000 worth of property during 15 burglaries on soft targets in the Wodonga region last year. King began his spree, allegedly with co-accused and partner Aleisha Taylor, on February 19 last year. Homes under construction were targeted for a wide range of tools and building supplies. A Murray Way home was raided on June 30 with trailers needed to haul out the large amount of stolen goods. Magistrate Peter Dunn noted to King's lawyer, Chirag Patel, the impact he'd had by targeting people's "castle". "Littered in these burglaries is the theft of tradesmen's tools," he said. "These persons should be entitled to leave their tools at the workplace. "But as I understand it, they're often counselled against doing so because people like your client are about, lurking, to take their property "These are soft targets because they're homes under construction, not many people about." Mr Dunn said the victims would have felt violated, with the offences having a ripple effect in the community. The court heard while King was using drugs, it wasn't argued he was stealing to support his habit. IN OTHER NEWS: "This is significant and ongoing criminal behaviour," Mr Dunn said. "I see no alternative, not only for you but to send a message to the community that this type of behaviour on soft targets is not tolerated or looked kindly upon by the justice system ... today I'm sentencing you to a term of imprisonment for one year." Mr Dunn imposed a six-month minimum sentence. Taylor will return on May 24. The court previously heard she was contesting the matters. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: