‘Addicted to crime’: Maserati thief Ivan John Gray, 20, jailed after four-day Adelaide crime spree

A young man is back behind bars after video captured him driving a stolen luxury car, with a court hearing he confessed he was addicted to crime.

A young man who began a wild crime-spree just days after being released from juvenile detention has been jailed for breaking into Adelaide homes and stealing luxury cars, telling a psychologist he was “addicted to crime”.

Ivan John Gray, now 20, was jailed in the District Court last month after pleading guilty to charges including aggravated serious criminal trespass and robbery after a four-day crime spree in 2022 and luxury car theft at North Adelaide in 2023.

In sentencing, Judge Paul Muscat said Gray began to break the law less than a month after turning 18.

He said Gray modelled himself on older cousins “actively involved in crime and using drugs”.

“You said that you were impressed by the fact they always seemed to have new clothing and items, such as phones and PlayStations,” Judge Muscat said.

“You also enjoyed the camaraderie of being part of that group, and you soon became addicted to crime, and the lifestyle of being able to get whatever you wanted by stealing, breaking into cars and later trespassing into properties.”

Gray’s September 2022 daylight crime spree began when he broke into a Mansfield Park home, where he stole a bike, phones, money and a Honda motorcycle key.

Four days later, he stole the motorcycle and then with two others used a stolen bank card at an OTR at Ridleyton and caught a taxi to North Adelaide, where they broke into a home as the residents slept and stole a Range Rover.

He was charged with theft and aggravated serious criminal trespass over that break-in, before being released on home detention bail in February 2023.

A week later, he broke into a St Georges house with two others, stealing a Land Rover and a Maserati as the residents slept.

Police later found video of Gray driving the Maserati and a photo of him and the others posing in front of it.

“You said that you were under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and that you did not know what you were doing,” Judge Muscat said. “I am not prepared to accept that … you well knew what you were doing and you enjoyed the thrill of driving the luxury cars you stole, as your posing in front of the Maserati plainly reveals.”

Gray was jailed for five years and six months, but will be eligible for parole in late March 2025 because of time served in custody.

“Mr Gray, I have serious reservations about whether you will be able to reform but I have given you the opportunity to do so because you are so young,” Judge Muscat said. “If you do not change, the sentences only get longer.”