A barcode bandit's efforts to steal hundreds of dollars worth of groceries using Blu Tack and chocolate bars have come unstuck in a NSW courtroom. Wollongong man Adrian Rondan cheated his local Coles over several visits by sticking barcodes from Caramello Koalas and chewing gum packets to his finger with Blu Tack and scanning them at self-service checkouts while covering the barcodes of other items he placed in his shopping bag. The 54-year-old filled his trolley with everything from ice creams, to mussels, toothpaste and bug spray, but his receipts showed he instead paid for several confectionery items. On one occasion, Adrian treated himself to loaves of bread, boxes of Golden Gaytimes and other ice creams, chicken drumsticks, an $18 porterhouse steak, coconut Water, and a $60 hair clipper. The big shop should've cost him $143.10, but Adrian paid just $11.20 - zapping through 13 chocolate bars. Adrian, who's unemployed, said he was short of cash because of his mother's expensive medical bills. "We were very short of money ... I know I did wrong," he told A Current Affair. "I didn't want to shoplift. ...I didn't want to brazenly take things and put them in my pocket," he said of the unique method of theft. Adrian is not alone in his pursuit to secure a five-finger discount. About 7 per cent of Australians have admitted to stealing from supermarkets or scanning through an item as something else, Finder finance expert Taylor Blackburn said. That number has almost doubled since last year. "It's one thing to do everything you can to save a buck, but having a criminal record may not be the best way to go about it," Blackburn said. After Adrian was caught on CCTV, he was charged and pleaded guilty at Wollongong Court to five counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception. He was sentenced to nine months in prison, to be served by way of an intensive corrections order at home. A man has revealed how he was able to shoplift hundreds of dollars of groceries for next to nothing. Adrian Rondan knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't have enough money to pay for his shopping. The problem is rife across Australia due to the cost-of-living crisis, with a Yahoo Finance poll of more than 8,000 people showing at least 12 per cent of people have shoplifted because they can't afford their normal groceries. But Rondan came up with a way to game the system several times. “We were very short of money … I know I did wrong,” Adrian told A Current Affair. “I didn’t want to shoplift. … I didn’t want to brazenly take things and put them in my pocket.” When he would duck out to his local Coles supermarket in Wollongong, NSW, he would stick a barcode from a Caramello Koala wrapper to his finger and scan that for everything in his trolley. One shop saw him pilfer bread, boxes of Golden Gaytime ice creams, chicken drumsticks, steak, coconut water and a hair clipper. The trolley was worth $143.10 all up, but he only paid $11.20. Sometimes he would use a chocolate bar barcode, other times it would be from a gum wrapper or a Blu-Tac box. The 54-year-old Wollongong man admitted he resorted to shoplifting because of his mother's medical bills. But he was eventually caught stealing on CCTV and was charged with five counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception. He pleaded guilty in court and has been sentenced to nine months in prison. He will serve it through an intensive corrections order at home. Five-finger discounts are on the rise as the cost-of-living crisis continues to crunch down on Aussies' finances. Research released by Finder found one in seven respondents, equivalent to three million Aussies, have admitted to shoplifting in the past 12 months. When the data was last researched in October last year, 5 per cent of people said they stole at the supermarket checkout. That's now increased to 7 per cent. The same portion of people (7 per cent) said they deliberately lied about what they scanned - which has doubled since last year. Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said the figures were alarming. "Many households are struggling and are having to make difficult, and in some cases, criminal choices to cope," he said. "The youngest Aussies are seemingly the most affected." Shoplifting is a crime and punishable under section 117 of the Crimes Act 1900. If the value of the stolen goods doesn’t go above $5,000, then a shoplifter can face a maximum penalty of a $5,500 fine and/or 12 months imprisonment if it’s dealt with in local court, according to LY Lawyers. If the goods are valued above $5,000 then that maximum penalty goes up to two years behind bars. The maximum penalty for district court matters of shoplifting or larceny is up to five years in jail. Coles and Woolworths have deployed anti-theft measures, like checkout technology, more security cameras, and smart-gates, to ensure shoplifting is kept to an absolute minimum. While it has come under scrutiny, it's clearly worked for one brand. In Coles' earnings announcement this week, where the supermarket announced a $1.1 billion profit, it revealed these measures contributed $80 million to Coles' bottom line in just the second half of the year. Last year, Coles announced 20 per cent stock losses were from shoplifting and food waste, while competitor Woolies estimated theft made up a quarter of stock loss. A man dubbed 'the barcode bandit' has offered a honest explanation after his crafty shoplifting enterprise involving Caramello Koalas and Blu Tack came unstuck. Adrian Rondan, 54, appeared in Wollongong Court last week where he pleaded guilty to five counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception after he was caught on CCTV stealing hundreds of dollars worth of groceries from his local Coles. The court heard He used Blu Tack to stick barcodes cut from Caramello Koala chocolate bars and gum to his finger then scanned them at the self-serve check-outa in place of other, more expensive, items he walked out of the supermarket with. Rondan walked away with ice-cream, mussels, steaks, toothpaste, bandaids and bug spray during five visits to Coles at Wollongong Central in April but his receipt only listed the gum packets and chocolates. On one shopping trip, he 'bought' bread, boxes of Golden Gaytime, chicken drumsticks, steak, coconut water and a $60 hair clipper which came to a bill of $143.10. He paid $11.20. Rondan was sentenced to nine months in prison to be served through an intensive corrections order at home. When confronted by A Current Affair this week, Rondan admitted what he did was wrong but explained that he was unemployed and short of money. He added that his mother's mounting medical bills led him to desperate measures. 'We were very short of money ... I know I did wrong,' he said. 'I didn't want to shoplift. I didn't want to brazenly take things and put them in my pocket.' He was surprised to find the television crew chasing after him while walking his dog along the beach. 'Who dobbed me in?' he asked the journalist. He declined her offer of some Caramello Koalas and admitted he was sorry. 'Of course I am. I said that in court,' he said. Rondan's lawyer told the court last week that his client was on a disability support pension and was also a full-time carer to his elderly mother, the Illawarra Mercury reported. Magistrate Mark Douglass opted against jail time but warned Rondan he would be sent to prison if he shoplifted again. 'I'm not sure whether you'd do well in prison sir,' Magistrate Douglass said. 'Prison is a very violent, aggressive, competitive place ... you'd be going in there as someone who's older and probably not as physically capable as many.' About seven per cent of Australians have admitted to stealing from supermarkets or scanned items wrongfully, which is almost double last year's figures. 'It's one thing to do everything you can to save a buck, but having a criminal record may not be the best way to go about it,' Finder finance expert Taylor Blackburn told A Current Affair.