Christopher John White: Moreton Bay thief busted after taking car with four-year-old inside

A former chef from Moreton Bay is in court after assaulting a taxi driver and stealing a car from a shopping centre with a four-year-old child inside during a brazen crime spree.

A former chef from Moreton Bay assaulted a taxi driver and stole a car from a shopping centre with a four-year-old child inside during a brazen crime spree.

Griffin man Christopher John White, 37, pleaded guilty in district court at Beenleigh on Tuesday to 14 offences, including one count of assault occasioning bodily harm, one count of deprivation of liberty and two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

The court heard the offending began on April 24 last year when security footage captured White using a metal trolley handle to break into a car and remove its battery outside a pathology business in Underwood.

White went on to flag down a taxi in Underwood but became angry with the driver when he told him he didn’t have enough money to cover a trip home to Griffin.

White got out of the taxi, approached the 48-year-old driver and began striking him with a metal object to the head and forearm.

The driver was taken to the hospital and suffered a 2.5cm linear wound to his forehead and swelling.

About an hour later, White went stole a car from a 40-year-old woman, who had been putting her trolley away, outside of the Underwood Marketplace Shopping Centre.

The court heard White drove the car away while the woman’s four-year-old child was still in the back seat, and he ended up hitting another car while trying to exit the car park.

White continued to drive away, but before leaving the complex, he stopped and removed the four-year-old before driving off again.

White’s lawyer said her client was a former chef with a good work history who lost his job during the height of Covid-19.

Judge Craig Chowdhury sentenced him to three years imprisonment with a release date of February 23, 2022. He also declared the 290 days he spent in custody as time served.