A juvenile who crashed two stolen cars started offending at the age of 12

He was detected doing speeds up to 145km/hr and 180km/hr prior to crashing the cars, with six children in one of the vehicles at one point.

A juvenile attempted to stab a Uber driver, stole two other cars, went joy-riding travelling up to 180kms/hr, swapped stolen vehicles with a co-offender and crashed two of the vehicles.

The boy was 12 years old when he committed his first offence, 15 when he carried out the stolen car crimes, and 16 when he was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court on November 8, 2021.

Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said the defendant was part of a group of juveniles who damaged an early learning centre’s window and entered the premises in April 2019.

He then escalated his offending two years’ later when stole an Audi on February 25 with a co-offender, crashed it and fleeing the scene.

The juvenile then approached an Uber driver, asked them to assist his friends and walked away when denied.

However, he returned and pulled a knife from his back pocket.

The defendant then opened the driver’s door and attempted to strike the victim’s face and chest multiple times while the victim honked the car’s horn repeatedly.

The victim then moved seats and the defendant stole the car’s keys and fled with his two associates.

The victim ran after them, yelling at them to give his keys back and one of the defendant’s associates tried to hit him.

The defendant turned to go back to the car but ultimately ran off with the group.

The second stolen car incident started when the defendant entered the victim’s home while they and their children were sleeping, after breaking a deadbolt.

The defendant stole a wallet and keys, driving off in the victim’s Mitsibushi ASX and went for a joy ride.

Ms Lawrence said at one stage, there were six children in the ASX, which only had five seats.

A Mitsubishi ASX

She said it was detected going up to 145km/hr.

Ms Lawrence said the defendant left the car for a period and when he returned, he carried out a fuel drive-off.

“The defendant then met up with a co-offender who was driving another stolen vehicle,” she said.

Ms Lawrence said they swapped stolen cars with the defendant detected doing speeds up to 180km/hr before crashing the stolen car.

The defendant was located on May 27.

His other charges involved breaking into a house via an unlocked window on February 27 and taking car keys.

He was later remanded in custody for two days where he was aggressive and threatening towards police.

After being released on March 1, it only took the defendant 17 days before he reoffended - this time using a stolen bank card to purchase $39.95 of goods in three transactions.

On March 27, the defendant and others hopped in a taxi and asked the driver to take them to an address at The Range, Rockhampton.

When they arrived, the defendant distracted the driver momentarily while another stole the driver’s phone and all fled without paying the fare.

On April 2, the defendant was spotted riding a bicycle and he had no answer for who it belonged to.

He was arrested and released on bail.

Twelve hours later, he was busted with two knives and a tomahawk in his backpack.

Ms Lawrence said the defendant’s pre-sentence report noted five contributing factors to his offending including inadequate supervision, living a transient lifestyle, negative peer associations and substance abuse (marijuana, methamphetamines and alcohol).

She said the defendant’s attitude towards his offending was “somewhat concerning”.

Ms Lawrence said he showed little insight into the trauma his offending had on his victims or the risks of driving at high speeds despite having been involved in crashes.

She said at times, the defendant displaced blame to his peers where he was clearly the instigator, such as the robbery where he produced the knife.

The court heard the defendant did go through the Restorative Justice process with one of the victims, providing an apology which he read out to the victim and promised to stay in school.

Defence barrister Ross Lo Monaco said at the time of the offending, the defendant’s parents had become concerned about his association with the “wrong people” and he had been expelled from the high school he was attending.

Barrister Ross Lo Monaco.

He said the defendant had been smoking a lot of marijuana and drinking alcohol.

Mr Lo Monaco said the defendant was the second youngest of nine children and had resided with his parents until he relocated to live with an older sister in another Central Queensland town.

He said his attempt to enrol at the school in his sister’s town has been unsuccessful and she was now exploring other options while appealing the refusal.

Mr Lo Monaco said the defendant now had a casual job working three days a week with the prospect of a carpentry apprenticeship in the future.

The teen was placed on 12 months’ probation and no convictions were recorded.