Twenty-year-old Slack’s Creek man with five-page criminal history granted bail after alleged vehicle theft
An irate magistrate has condemned a young man’s celebration of riding in an allegedly stolen high-powered European vehicles while his younger brother fights for life in hospital after a car crash.
Redlands Coast
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A 20-year-old man with a five-page criminal history who, a court heard, boasts online of his expertise at riding in allegedly stolen high-powered European vehicles has been granted bail because his younger brother is in an induced coma after a car crash.
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Magistrate Deborah Vasta did not conceal her frustration and doubt at granting Luke Francis Ralston bail today when he appeared from custody via video link at the Cleveland Magistrates Court.
The court heard Slack’s Creek man Ralston had been released from custody only nine days before he was arrested for further alleged offending on July 24.
The defendant faced a string of charges including unlawful use of a vehicle at Cleveland between July 23 and August 23; entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence in Cleveland on July 23 and unlawful use of a motor vehicle in Shailer Park on July 23 among other charges.
An at times incredulous Magistrate Vasta read out Ralston’s online post of him standing in front of an allegedly stolen black Audi:
“Been doing the same s**t since since day one, always running amok with the bros just to have fun,” the magistrate read.
“How dumb does that sound?,” she asked
“That is a really, really stupid attitude to life.
“The community is sick to death of smart arses (allegedly) breaking into people’s houses and stealing their cars.
“You are (allegedly) deliberately targeting high-powered Audis and BMWs and it is because you don’t give a s**t about people’s property which is frequently left burnt out.
“And you don’t care about the people who are left in your wake.”
The court was told Ralston had committed 29 property offences since he was 18 “would keep offending” should he be released and stood to receive up to three years in jail given the “strong evidence” against him.
Defence solicitor Layla King said her client understood the seriousness of his charges and had suffered a heavy toll on his mental health due to his brother’s critical state in hospital – which she said had been verified with Ralston’s mother.
Ms King said the defendant, who has never maintained a job, had gained potential employment at a plastics factory, would live with his grandfather in Slack’s Creek and was willing to wear a tracking device.
Magistrate Vasta said she had “been burnt before” for releasing high-risk young people, but maintained courts must take a chance on their release and hoped the defendant would use his brother’s hospitalisation as a turning point for the better.
Ralston was granted bail, pending confirmation of his brother’s residency at hospital, and will be fitted with a tracking device tomorrow before his release.