Girls, 12 and 15, in Youth Court charged with breaking into BankSA branch with shopping trolley
A 12-year-old girl who allegedly used a shopping trolley to break into a bank told police she did it “just because”, a court has heard. She and her co-accused, 15, were missing persons at the time.
Police & Courts
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A 12-year-old girl and her 15-year-old female friend had been declared missing persons and were avoiding police when they broke into a southern suburbs bank branch, the Youth Court has heard.
Both girls were found by police at the Colonnades Shopping Centre in the early hours of Sunday morning.
They are accused of kicking in a window at an employment agency before using a shopping trolley to smash the window of a Bank SA branch.
One of the girls is accused of going inside the bank while the other played look out but no items were reported taken.
Both were returned to their homes by police and then arrested later on Sunday and charged with serious criminal trespass and breaching bail.
They both appeared in the Youth Court on Monday where they applied for release on bail.
Magistrate David White heard that the pair had run from police earlier in the night knowing they were had been declared missing persons.
When interviewed by police, the 12-year-old reportedly said she wanted to “go to Cavan”, a reference to the Cavan Youth Training Centre which holds youths in detention.
The court heard that when the 12-year-old was asked about the break-in, she said she had broken the window and gone inside “just because”.
She was on bail for charges of assault and property damage at the time of the alleged offending.
Mr White released the 12-year-old on bail, placing her on a 6pm-7am curfew.
“Given her age I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
“Given her age she should be coming straight home from school.”
The 15-year-old had appeared before the Youth Court on unrelated offending only last week and had been banned from attending the Colonnades Shopping Centre.
Mr White ordered a home detention report to assess her suitability for release on bail, labelling the accusations “concerning”.
She will appear in court again in two weeks when the bail report is completed.