Aidan Thomson jailed over aggravated burglary, car thefts

A serial burglar and car thief who repeatedly rammed a woman and her grandchildren during a crazed Geelong crime spree has been sent to jail.

Seven cars were stolen in the crime spree.

A recidivist burglar and car thief’s “rapid fire” crime spree has landed him years behind bars.

Aidan Thomson, 22, fronted the County Court at Geelong on Wednesday, and pleaded guilty to 17 charges including aggravated burglary, burglary, obtaining property by deception, trespass, handling stolen goods, three counts of drug possession and seven counts of car theft.

Judge Gerard Mullaly sentenced Thomson to four years and four months behind bars, with a non-parole period of two years.

According to documents released to the court, the Armstrong Creek man, along with a co-offender, stole a Hyundai from a Newtown home on April 9, 2023, before a flurry of thefts took place between May 1 and 4 that year.

A Mazda was stolen from a Corio address, a pair of Mercedes Benz cars were stolen in Armstrong Creek and a Holden was nicked in Highton.

An Audi was also stolen in Highton and a pair of Mazdas were stolen from Torquay.

Six of the seven stolen cars were recovered, and text messages about some of the thefts between Thomson and his co-accused were found.

One victim woke on May 2 that year to find her home’s back door open, her purse gone and cars missing.

Hours later, a grandmother and her family were returning home from a shopping trip in Highton to find men leaving the woman’s house with stolen items.

The men, including Thomson, got into a stolen Mercedes and used it to ram the family’s car multiple times, as the children screamed and the grandmother urged her daughter to “get the kids out of here and get them safe”.

The thieves returned the next day to steal an Audi belonging to the same family.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Mullaly said the ramming no doubt caused “utter terror”, and the house burglaries left the victims with a “dreadful feeling and enduring image”.

Thomson was arrested after police traced a phone dropped in a backyard back to him.

His co-offender was sentenced to 163 days followed by a community corrections order (CCO) by the Geelong Magistrates Court.

Vincent Vuu, for Thomson, argued his client’s prospects of rehabilitation were not extinguished.

The court heard of Thomson’s “difficult circumstances” growing up, as well as the drug use that had been a “scourge” in his life.

However, Thomson showed promising signs of rehabilitation after the birth of his daughter in 2021, the court heard, and had also begun to use his time on remand to complete courses.

But Judge Mullaly found a combined sentence of time served plus a corrections order, as the defence argued for, would not be adequate given the seriousness of his crimes.

He told the court Thomson had spurned multiple chances and said recidivist young offenders, like Thomson, “cannot expect these crimes will be explained away because they have become drug addicted”.

The court heard Thomson, who has never had a job, had a history involving “a bewildering number of aggravated burglaries and car thefts”.

“In those circumstances, the emphasis moves from rehabilitation to the punitive sentencing purposes,” Judge Mullaly said.

Judge Mullaly urged Thomson to get his act together, otherwise he would serve “a life sentence in instalments”.

Thomson has already served 498 days.

Originally published as Aidan Thomson jailed over aggravated burglary, car thefts