Five youths refused bail over police pursuit in allegedly stolen car across Adelaide streets
A GANG of five youths, including a child aged just 12 and two who were released from detention weeks ago, reached speeds of up to 160km/h during a police chase on Adelaide’s streets, a court has heard.
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A GANG of five youths, including a child aged just 12 and two who were released from detention weeks ago, reached speeds of up to 160km/h during a police chase on Adelaide’s streets, a court has heard.
Detectives from SA Police’s specialised task force Operation Mandrake are investigating the latest youth crime spree, more than a decade after it was launched to tackle a group of serious repeat young offenders.
As two magistrates refused bail over the serious offending, there were fresh calls for an urgent overhaul of the state’s youth justice system, and a new focus on prevention, to stop a revolving door of teenage crime.
The five youths, none of whom can be named because of their age, appeared separately in two Adelaide courts on Monday after they were arrested in their underwear in the early hours of the morning.
The alleged driver, of Renown Park, and one of the alleged passengers, 15, of Croydon, faced the Adelaide Youth Court late Monday.
Meanwhile his three other passengers — the child, of Ridleyton, a youth, 16, of Mansfield Park and a teenager, 17 of Osborne — appeared in the Elizabeth Youth Court.
The driver has yet to plead to charges including driving a stolen car, driving at a dangerous speed and under disqualification or suspension, breach of bail and breach of a good behaviour bond.
The court heard he was on bail for dishonesty and drug trafficking offences.
His three teenage passengers face a single charge of driving or using a motor vehicle without consent. The child — who could barely see over the court dock — and the Mansfield Park teen, claim they were asleep in their beds at the time.
The courts heard the gang had extensive criminal records while the child, whose lawyer said was barely older than the legal age of criminal responsibility, was also under supervision for unspecified crimes.
Just last month, the alleged driver, 17, wrote on social media how he wished to turn around his criminal life and would no longer break the law as he was “doing no more of that s**t”.
His criminal history is at least 31 pages in length, the Adelaide Youth Court heard.
Two of his teenage co-accused had been released from detention in early December for crimes including car theft and illegally driving a vehicle, the Elizabeth Youth Court heard.
Prosecutors allege the group stole a white Audi 4WD after breaking into a home in Medindie, in Adelaide’s inner north, in the early hours of Sunday and stealing her keys.
Patrols then spotted the luxury car on Glen Osmond Rd just after 12.30am on Monday before the driver allegedly led police on a 50km, hour-long chase across the metropolitan area.
They allegedly reached speeds of up to 160km/h — up to 100km/h above the speed limit — as they careered on the wrong side of the road without their lights on.
As the police helicopter monitored overhead and patrols monitored from the ground, they drove through Westbourne Park and Marion before speeding through coastal suburbs, including Glenelg, Henley Beach and Semaphore, the court heard.
They then allegedly drove across northern suburbs including Mawson Lakes and Parafield Gardens before dumping the car in a quiet Para Hills West cul-de-sac and fleeing.
Officers, including from the dog squad, swooped and arrested the five youths, some of whom were in their underwear, at a nearby house.
The words “gang of 22” was scrawled on one of the stolen car’s chairs. Operation Mandrake was established in 2007 in response to a spike in youth crime including those committed by the so-called “Gang of 49”.
The Elizabeth Youth Court heard the house belonged to one of the accused’s aunts but she did not recognise at least three of the boys who told officers they had arrived “shortly before the police turned up”.
Defence lawyer James Aujard told the court the child claimed he was asleep in his bed while his co-accused stood in the dock and told Magistrate Philip Broderick he had “no idea bro” why police had raided the house.
Mr Broderick told the teenager that if he did not improve his ways he would turn up shortly in adult jails and that “would be a tragedy”.
Both Mr Broderick and Adelaide Youth Court Magistrate Cathy Deland refused bail to all five youths, saying they were unsuitable candidates and also citing the seriousness of their crimes.
They were remanded in custody until next week.
Leading child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said that stopping youth crime needed a renewed focus on prevention because the system was “clearly” failing.
He said teenagers needed help to better use their time.
“The answer to this is prevention,” he said. “If you get young people gainfully occupied in art, music, dance, sport or employment, you probably wouldn’t have this problem.
“The problem is you’ve got a bunch of young people with a lot of time on their hands who don’t appear worried about breaking the law — the cycle just repeats itself over and over again.
“As they get older, they’ll probably graduate to the adult system and spend the rest of their life in jail.”
A spokesman said the State Government agreed engagement was the best prevention for youth offending and that there were programs in place aimed at doing so through the ‘Connected to YOUth’ strategy.
“The Government also believes that any youths who do offend enter a justice system which reduces the risk of their reoffending and provides training opportunities for youths who are detained,” he said.
“Last year, Parliament passed the Youth Justice Administration Act 2016 which seeks to deliver both community safety and positive, non-offending outcomes for young people.”
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