Retrial for man accused of stealing $148,000 in coins from Melbourne parking meters Josef Andelman was accused of being in a gang that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of parking meter cash. A COUNCIL worker who allegedly stole more than $148,000 in coins from Melbourne parking meters has been granted a retrial. Russian-born Josef Andelman was one of a group of security officers who allegedly used their job clearing city parking meters to turn to crime. In 2011 Mr Andelman was convicted of 85 charges of theft and jailed for four years after representing himself at a County Court trial. Collegues Charnjit Kalia and Rodney Tatnell - who had previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced for their role in the thefts - gave evidence at the trial. Together, they allegedly stole $377,000 while on the job during a crime spree spanning more than 12 months between July 2007 and October 2008 The alleged scam came to light only after an audit found a discrepancy. Mr Andelman allegedly stole $148,285.25 of coins deposited in meters that failed to lodge in the secure collection box. Box lids could also be forced open. But the former Israeli soldier today had his convictions quashed and was granted a retrial by the Court of Appeal because of a "substantial miscarriage of justice." While calling for a retrial the judgment found several matters in the "strong" Crown case "tended to point in favour of the (Mr Andelman's) guilt. They included: HIS admission that he was working on the days in question. EVIDENCE of a colleague who said she had seen him load bags of money into a private car. EVIDENCE that Mr Andelman regularly "deposited large quantitites of coins" into his bank account shortly after the alleged thefts. COIN bags, money and coins found at Mr Andelman's home. The court heard the original trial was compromised by the trial judge's failure to properly direct the jury. Lawyers for Mr Andelman successfully argued the trial judge should have instructed the jury that guilty pleas by two of Andelman's associates could not be used against him. It was further argued that Mr Andelman had been "ill-equipped" to represent himself and was unable to "take exception...where the judge fell into error." "The duty upon a trial judge to provide an unrepresented accused with necessary information and assistance is onerous, but it is essential in ensuring a fair trial," the Court of Appeal judgment stated. "The judge's failure to raise the question of what warning were necessary in relation to Kalia and Tatnell's evidence was so fundamental that it might have been described, formerly, as going to the "root of the trial." "Due to (Mr Andelman's) lack of awareness of trial conduct, and the failure of the judge and prosecutor to raise the issues associated with their evidence, it was left but barely tested," it said. The decision to quash the convictions and order a retrial was the unanimous decision of justices Maxwell, Weinberg and Priest.