Blake Vincent Verhelst, 26, of Eagleby jailed for stolen car spree

It took mere days after parole release for a young serial offender to remove his tracker, steal a car by smashing down a gate and ram police at a popular fast food drive-through.

A 26-year-old career criminal used three stolen cars only days after his parole release and crashed one into police and an innocent driver in a desperate attempt to avoid the law.

Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday (June 29) heard Blake Vincent Verhelst of Eagleby had spent most of his adult life in prison and was in danger of being institutionalised.

He pleaded guilty to 17 charges.

They included dangerous operation of a vehicle, unlawful use of a vehicle, being unlawfully at large, wilful damage, entering a premises with intent and possessing dangerous drugs.

The court heard Verhelst was granted parole release with an ankle satellite tracking device on February 11.

On February 23 he damaged and removed the court-ordered tracking device.

Between February 21 and March 4 he used a stolen black Mercedes Benz coupe in which his fingerprints were found.

According to police, he further used a stolen Holden Commodore between February 23 and March 4.

But his offending would culminate on March 4 when police boxed him in with their vehicle while he was behind the wheel of a stolen Toyota Corolla.

Blake Vincent Verhelst was jailed for 12 months. Photo: Supplied

The court heard he later admitted to police he had stolen that vehicle by entering a Pimpama premises and crashing the vehicle through a gate to make off with it.

While boxed in by police at around 10.10pm at a Browns Plains Hungry Jack’s drive-through, he “heavily reversed” into an innocent Honda Civic driver, before smashing into a police vehicle in an unsuccessful attempt to escape.

Police prosecutor Donna Kay said it was a serious example of dangerously operating a vehicle.

The court heard the offending was aggravated for occurring on a relevant criminal history that kept Verhelst in custody for most of his adult life.

Defence solicitor Bettina Webb said her client was serving an existing seven-and-a-half-year sentence and acknowledged his recent offending was “very serious”.

However, Ms Webb noted he had caused relatively minor damage and had not driven at speed when he crashed into the vehicles.

The defence said serial drug abuse repeatedly led to Verhelst’s downfall.

He would live with his aunt in Raby Bay upon release, the court was told.

Acting magistrate Mark Howden said the defendant seemed intent on spending his youth in custody and ran the risk of becoming institutionalised.

Verhelst was handed a 12-month head sentence with a January 23, 2023 parole eligibility date.

A total 118 days pre-sentence custody was taken into account.

He was further disqualified from driving for 12 months.