Meth using QLD teen jailed for armed robbery, torching stolen car
A now 18-year-old thug, who held up a service station and torched a stolen $70k car off the back of a staggering rap sheet, will not be declared a serious violent offender after a prosecution bid was rejected by the court.
Police & Courts
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If a teen had been just a few months older when he held up a service station and later torched a getaway car worth $70k he would now be facing serious jail time.
Instead a prosecutor’s pleas for the now 18-year-old, who has a 10-page criminal history, to be declared a serious violent offender has been rejected by the court.
He was previously involved in a riot at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre where he committed arson and his criminal record includes convictions for armed robberies and stolen cars.
The Rockhampton District Court heard this week that the serial offender had been using methamphetamines since he was 13 years old and was spotted filling up a jerry can ahead of a $70,000 stolen Dodge Ram being torched.
The offender, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court for an armed robbery of a Marlborough service station along with being in the stolen Dodge Ram, fuel drive offs and torching the armed robbery getaway car.
His juvenile record contained 22 unlawful uses of motor vehicles entries, four enter premises and commit indictable offences and six burglaries.
Crown prosecutor Cameron Keast said the teen held up the Marlborough service station on July 23, 2022, while armed with a metal bar and mask on his face.
He said the defendant demanded money and cigarettes and left in a stolen white Hyunda. Two days later he was a passenger in another stolen car – a Dodge Ram stolen from a Mackay used caryard – and was spotted filling up a jerry can with petrol.
Mr Keast said the stolen Dodge was found “on fire” by police and completely destroyed, but this defendant was not charged with arson.
Judge Jeff Clarke said the jerry can, which was the source of ignition, was found in the passenger seat’s footwell.
The defendant was, however, charged with torching the Marlborough armed robbery getaway car.
Mr Keast said the teen’s 10-page criminal recorded included an armed robbery of a service station with a knife at the age of 14 and being involved in a riot at Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre where he set fire to items.
The court heard the child, who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, had sustained a head injury after being ejected from a car during a crash two years ago and now has issues with speech.
He had been living with his mother and brother in a motel room before being arrested a week after the Dodge offence and detained for over a year.
Judge Clarke described the Marlborough robbery as “a mean spirited, horrible, gutless act” to rob someone at night in an isolated area.
The teen had pleaded guilty to one count each of armed robbery at night, unlawful use of a motor vehicle – aggravated, arson and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
He was sentenced to 18 months detention, with 89 days of his presentence custody declared as time served, and ordered to be released after serving half of the detention order period.