Accused thief Thomas Keech denied bail after alleged weekend spree

An accused crook was found hiding in a friend’s attic after allegedly stealing from unlocked cars and taking credit cards in a weekend crime spree.

Thomas Keech. Picture: Facebook

An accused crook who was found hiding in a friend’s attic has been denied bail, after allegedly going on a weekend crime spree.

Thomas Keech, 23, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday, facing numerous charges across seven briefs.

At the time of his arrest on Monday morning, Mr Keech had been wanted on six warrants for car theft, failing to answer bail, obtaining property by deception and dealing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

He was also allegedly wanted for interview for four other offences relating to separate thefts.

Police alleged that over the weekend, Keech was responsible for several thefts in the Geelong CBD area stealing from unlocked cars, taking credit cards and committing a large number of “tap and go” offences throughout Geelong.

Mr Keech was found hiding in the roof of an associate’s house before being arrested and taken back to Geelong police station.

Representing himself from the dock, Mr Keech applied for bail but his application was denied by magistrate Franz Holzer.

Police opposed the bail application, with Sergeant Darren Evans describing Keech’s arrest as a “big win” for community safety.

“The male’s offending has hurt families in the lead up to Christmas,” Sergeant Evans said.

“People are losing hundreds of dollars before realising they have been the victim of crime.”

Keech pleaded with Mr Holzer to give him a chance on bail.

“I understand with my history, I’m probably the last person you’d want to give a chance to, but I won’t let you down,” Mr Keech said.

“I’m sick of letting everyone down, I’m sick of letting myself down.”

The court heard that Mr Keech planned to work at the Bendigo Show on the weekend if he was granted bail.

He said he would be willing to get the train there and back in order to abide by a curfew, but it wasn’t enough to sway Mr Holzer.

“It’s close, but not close enough,” he told Mr Keech.

Mr Keech was remanded in custody and will reappear in court next month.

Originally published as Accused thief Thomas Keech denied bail after alleged weekend spree