Lazarus Paul Sedan pleads guilty to 53 charges, loses licence for 24 years

A young car thief has received back to back driving disqualifications totalling more than 20 years for a month-long crime spree including two serious crashes stealing a $10,000 ring.

Lazarus Paul Seden pleaded guilty to myrad charges including 12 counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, 11 counts of disqualified driving, evasion, seven counts of stealing and 15 offences related to burglary, break and enters and attempts of the like.

A mother has detailed how the actions of a young criminal have impacted her family, including sleepless nights and children on edge, as the serial car thief is hit with back to back driving disqualifications totalling more than two decades.

The 21 year old was picked up after a month-long crime spree during which he committed 53 offences barely two weeks after he was released on parole.

Lazarus Paul Seden pleaded guilty to myriad charges including 12 counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, 11 counts of disqualified driving, evasion, seven counts of stealing and 15 offences related to burglary, break and enters and attempts of the like.

Mackay District Court heard it could be described as a crime spree of driving and property offences between October 18 and November 20, 2022 during which he broke into eight homes and tried to break into three more.

He stole car keys, a wallet, bag and jewellery including a $10,000 ring.

He drove off without paying for fuel seven times and rammed a vehicle to exit a car park, which also resulted in a dangerous driving charge.

Seden’s offending stopped with his arrest in November 2022 following two separate car crashes involving stolen vehicles - at Mount Pleasant and Farleigh - that resulted in three people suffering serious injuries.

He has been in custody since serving a six-year sentence for those crashes, with parole eligibility originally set at July 19, 2025.

The victim of one of his attempted burglaries, that occurred on November 20, 2022, wrote an impact statement in which she described how Seden’s actions had tore down her mental health.

Lazarus Paul Seden. Picture: Facebook

“Every time I hear a noise outside I am on instant alert often not being able to sleep for hours after the fact which then affects my ability to function at work the next day,” she wrote.

“I no longer feel safe in my home of an evening, knowing that there are people out there trying to look for opportunities to enter someone’s safe haven.

“My anxiety has transferred through to my children, particularly my middle child (who) will no sleep without his bedroom light on.”

Judge John Coker said the victim impact statement “clearly shows the consequences that flow in relation to criminal behaviours... to other members of the community”.

The court heard Seden had an unsettled and dysfunctional upbringing where he was the subject of neglect and regularly with limited supervision.

“With idle hands and time comes offending,” Judge Coker said.

The court heard Seden started using marijuana at 12, left school at 15; and with no work to school “became involved more and more in criminality and... increased drug use” - by his late teens Seden was addicted to meth.

Judge Coker said the pleas of guilty were “hopefully an indication of some genuine or real remorse”.

“Insight into the fact, particularly now at 21 years of age, that your are destroying your own life through the actions that you have been taking,” Judge Coker said.

“And unless you were to change the course of your life one would expect that there would simply be longer and longer and longer periods where you will be spending time held in custody.”
Seden was jailed for 18 months with his parole eligibility date extended to January 19, 2026.

He received back to back license disqualifications for the disqualified driving and evasion charges, which are a minimum mandatory two years. The court heard this added up to about 24 years.

Convictions were recorded.