Hervey Bay teen sentenced for stealing tobacco, fuel, and cars

A 16-year-old Hervey Bay boy who helped steal an Audi on the Sunshine Coast by sneaking into a home at night and taking the keys smashed his way into a store so he could rob it the same night.

The teen broke and entered a home where he stole the keys to an Audi station wagon.

A Hervey Bay teenager who stole $43,000 worth of tobacco products from a Wurtulla store has been declared a repeat serious offender and put in a detention centre.

The 17-year-old who cannot be named because he is a minor, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay District Court on Friday to breaking and entering premises and stealing, burglary and stealing, car theft, fraud and wilful damage.

The teen, who was 16 at the time of the offences, and an accomplice, broke into the Wurtulla shop front at 3:30am on May 17, 2024, by smashing the front glass door, before making off with $43,000 worth of tobacco products and $66 from the cash register, Crown Prosecutor Michael Gawrych told the court.

Property damage from the break and enter totalled more than $19,000.

CCTV footage from another store showed the two loading the goods into a stolen SUV that had been taken from a Wondunna home at around 2am the night before by unknown offenders.

Hours before the robbery, the same vehicle had been captured on CCTV at a service station in Bli Bli where the teenager was identified when he took fuel without paying for it.

Between 6pm on May 16 and 6:40am on May 17, an Audi station wagon was stolen from a home in Bli Bli after the teen and others gained access through a sliding door at the back of the property, taking the car keys from inside.

The teen stole $43,000 worth of tobacco from a Wurtulla shop after smashing the front door.

The court heard the teen was identified as part of the party who stole that car after his fingerprints were found in it.

He was arrested on June 3 in Urangan before being taken to the watch house, where he scratched words into a cell wall.

He had faced the courts before, with Mr Gawrych stating he had 110 previous offences.

Defence barrister Phil Hardcastle told the court the boy understood the influence peers and accomplices had had on his behaviour and that he expressed a sense of hope that he was now older and less likely to offend.

Mr Hardcastle described it as “his opportunity to get on with life and become something for himself”.

The court also noted that he had been engaging with educational and cultural programs while on remand, a period of 172 days.

Judge Gary Long declared the teen a serious repeat offender and sentenced him to 12 months detention to be released after serving 50 per cent of the sentence.

No conviction were recorded.

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