A father has been jailed for almost three years for his role in the theft of gold nuggets worth $380,000 from a mine in Western Australia.
Harley-David Charlton, 35, faced the WA District Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to two years and 10 months’ imprisonment, with a 17-month non-parole period.
The court heard Charlton was working as a process technician at Karora Resources’ Higginsville Gold Mine in the Goldfields region when he carried out the heist with his supervisor brother-in-law, who helped him get the job, and other employees.
Charlton and his co-offenders stole more than 12 gold nuggets worth at least $380,000, and Charlton was tasked with selling them to gold dealers at shopping centres across Perth.
Over a span of 18 months Charlton exchanged 4.3kg of stolen gold for $225,000 in cash, but was caught in February 2024 when he transferred $37,000 to his NAB account and the bank notified police, The West Australian reported.
Police raided Charlton’s home in Halls Head and while he initially claimed he was selling gold that belonged to his grandmother, he made full admissions when he was arrested again the next month, and accepted responsibility for his role in the theft.
Charlton’s defence lawyer Hamish Glennister told the court his client was “no mastermind”, and argued the theft was a “joint endeavour” and Charlton was selling nuggets stolen by his co-offenders.
The court also heard a custodial sentence would heavily impact Charlton’s teenage son, who has complex needs and will have to be cared for by Charlton’s partner.
But Judge Mark Herron said in sentencing that Charlton was a willing participant in the heist and played an “important role”, telling him “without your involvement it is unlikely the offending could have proceeded”.
The gold nuggets, which ranged in value between $1,000 (15.67g) and $18,460 (296.6g), were recovered and returned to the mining company.
Charlton’s brother-in-law was fined $4,000 for his role in the thefts and ordered to pay $12,000 in compensation.
Header image: Left, Charlton selling some of the gold. Right, some of the recovered gold (WA Police).
