Cairns car theft record set with four months of 2022 remaining

A NSW family faced a holiday nightmare in Cairns as the latest victims of a car theft epidemic. How police are responding.

A NEW SOUTH WALES family, forced to fly home after their car was stolen from a Cairns caravan park, are the latest victims of a car theft epidemic that has set a new record.

On Thursday a peak stolen car rate of 782 vehicles was hit in the Cairns area, to equal a previous record set in 2021 with four months of the year still remaining.

Mother of four Amy Grant’s 200 series Toyota Landcruiser was ripped off from a Cairns resort on Sunday, leaving her stuck in the Far North with four confused children and no way to tow her caravan back to Albury, in southern NSW.

The Grant family have been forced to fly back to Albury after their car was stolen from a Cairns caravan park on Sunday. Amy, Lahni, Tanner, Christopher and Darcy Grant during a happier time. Picture: Supplied

“It just sucks, we are away from home, it’s really hard. The kids are still little and they are confused. What do you tell them?” she said.

“They entered the caravan while we were sleeping and took the keys.

“The police are at their wit’s end, and people are angry at the police, but they don’t just sit around eating doughnuts.

“The kids get caught and go to court and by the time the police do all the paperwork they are out again.

The 200 series Toyota Landcruiser with rego number CPH37B, stolen from Woree on July 30. Picture: QPS

“People are saying we need the army in and curfews to keep them in at night.

“It’s not OK that cars are getting stolen in Cairns and (its plain to) see it’s not just affecting the locals anymore, it’s affecting the visitors that are coming here.”

The car has been sighted around Cairns but it yet to be recovered.

It’s alleged the vehicle was stolen by a 13-year-old repeat offender just released from the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

Ms Grant said the silver lining to a horrendous holiday had been an outpouring of support from the Cairns community, including a stranger Heather Lovewell who donated her car until the family returned home on Wednesday.

“We were told to be careful in Cairns and we will come back. This is sh*t what happened but no way are these little as*holes are going to stop us coming back,” she said.

The Albury mum said it’s a matter of time before another fatality comes from a stolen car when kids with no licence and driving experience tearing around town in a V8 powered vehicle weighing more than two tonnes.

Alleged car thieves in a Toyota HiLux do burnouts and run a red light outside Pillow Talk on McCoombe St in Bungalow.

“What happens if they take a family out with our car, when they are going to kill a family because they shouldn’t be driving a V8,” she said.

“They were driving around Cairns and the fact that no one has been killed is astonishing.”

A staggering 372 crims charged with unlawful entry offences in the past month has edged the running annual car theft tally beyond an all-time record of 782 set by car thieves last year.

A mind boggling 1231 stolen car offences, according to Queensland Police Service data, have been recorded by officers in the past 12 months to cement Cairns as the regional car theft capital of Queensland, an unenviable title previously claimed by Townsville.

The city logged 1162 unlawful use of motor vehicle offences in the same period.

Unlawful entry within the Cairns local government area amounted to 372 offences compared to 257 reports logged in the Townsville area.

Cairns mum Julie Harrison had her vehicle destroyed by a hit-and-run driver at the wheel of a suspected stolen car.

In the past month 94 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences were recorded in Townsville which sat behind the 97 offences logged in the Cairns local government area.

Police Inspector Monique Ralph said record breaking car thefts rates were a concern and the motor industry had been consulted about the use of engine immobilisers.

“(The stats) are alarming and there’s something that we’re very concerned about,” she said.

“And hence the drive that we’re putting through with the community messaging to ensure that vehicles are locked and they’re not leaving their keys in an accessible location.

“(But) I’m not sure why it doesn’t get through because it’s one that we are continually are messaging on.”

Despite surging car theft rates and police resources spent tracking thieves, forensic work on stolen cars, taking to victims, organising tow trucks and paperwork needed for the courts Insp Ralph said feedback from frontline officers didn’t reveal any level of frustration.

“No, no, they just continue to attend as required, and continue to keep pushing the message,” she said.

Senior Constable Heidi Marek said they are targeting property offenders and officers are recovering stolen vehicles every day.

“One vehicle stolen is too many. The impact of having a vehicle stolen is far reaching,” she said.

“Vehicle owners experience not only the loss of their vehicle but any property inside that vehicle, losing their mode of transport for a period of time, a financial impact and in cases where a work car is stolen, the ability to work is also impacted.”

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Originally published as Cairns car theft record set with four months of 2022 remaining