When a man scaled a three-metre-high fence and broke into Canberra Airport, he may not have expected to find an unlocked Virgin Australia van with the keys inside.

Mikhaylo Mindelis would end up totalling the stolen van and causing $10,500 worth of damage to the fences as he drove along the runway and repeatedly crashed through the perimeter.

Mindelis was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 29.

Justice Louise Taylor handed him a three-year partially suspended jail sentence, meaning he was released from custody and placed on a good behaviour order until 2027. He had spent about a year behind bars while on remand.

He had previously pleaded guilty to eight charges, including entering an airside area without permission, endangering the safety of a Commonwealth aerodr

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