Trey McCauley sentenced over crime spree in Adelaide’s south

A Magistrate has relayed the impact offending can have on a victim to a young man after he stole a handbag and a car in Adelaide’s south last year.

A Magistrate has given a young man a stern warning after he pleaded guilty to stealing a handbag and ramming the front of a store with a trolley.

Trey McCauley, 20, appeared in the Christies Beach Magistrate court earlier this month after pleading guilty to a number of charges including interfering with a motor vehicle, theft and property damage.

The court heard that on February 26, 2022 McCauley was on-board the Seaford line with another person, before they departed Seaford Meadows and approached a woman.

McCauley grabbed the woman’s handbag and ran off.

Trey McCauley sentenced over seven month crime spree. Pic: Facebook

“I would expect that would have been quite a confronting experience for that victim and that she suffered anxiety following the offending,” Magistrate Kylie Schulz said during sentencing.

“That may continue when she goes out, when she catches the train or it may have stopped her from catching the train, I don’t know.”

The handbag was never recovered.

Further on June 1 police caught up with a black Audi that was taken from a home.

Mobile footage showed McCauley was the occupant of the vehicle and was subsequently arrested.

The following month, on July 18, CCTV footage captured McCauley ramming a shopping trolley into the Seaford Meadows Chemist Warehouse, causing $900 worth of damage.

In the early hours of August 1, a man was woken to the sound of his car being driven away from his house.

Police were able to follow and eventually located the car where they found McCauley along with a number of tools and spare parts that had been placed along a fence line.

In her sentencing, Magistrate Schulz cited the difficult upbringing McCauley had and noted his efforts of studying after obtaining a white card and forklift licence.

While McCauley’s defence counsel argued to not record a conviction for the offences due to his young age, Magistrate Schulz cited that the public deterrence was too great.

“This behaviour can’t be engaged in,” she said.

“They didn’t all occur over a short time period, the July and August offending occurred when you were already on bail for, you were on notice.”

McCauley was placed on a 18 month good behaviour bond.

Convictions were recorded.