Notorious child crim’s Bonnie and Clyde ‘crime spree’

A notorious child criminal has apparently taken a 13-year-old girl under his wing in a crime spree which has seen her rack up more than 20 charges in the space of a year.

Premier Chris Minns said on Tuesday there needed to be a “particular focus” on the 12-year-old repeat offender. Picture: NewsWire

A notorious child criminal has apparently teamed up with a 13-year-old in a crime spree in which she has racked up more than 20 charges in a year.

The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed a 12-year-old Dubbo boy with a record of more than 80 charges was back at home after allegedly being caught breaking and entering three days after he had been freed on bail by the NSW Supreme Court.

Police now say the boy has been working with the 13-year-old girl to steal cars and break into homes.

The girl recently received bail after allegedly going on a crime spree through Dubbo late last month in which she, along with three other boys, stole a Toyota Kluger before using it to break into seven different businesses over two days.

She is said to have engaged in two police pursuits during this time.

The girl had gone on the spree while she was out on bail for another charge.

The 13-year-old girl broke into seven Dubbo businesses in the space of two days. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The boy, who has been offending since he was eight-years-old, was not involved on that occasion due to being temporarily off the streets for another offence.

Local police say the two young kids have started working together in break and enters and vehicle thefts.

Both children have been bailed multiple times often heading straight from the courtroom into the classroom.

Police sources say the boy, after allegedly stealing a car, arrived at school straight after being bailed still in the clothes he wore while committing the theft and boasting about his crimes the night before.

Police Association of NSW president Kevin Morton. Picture: NCA Newswire

Police Association of NSW president Kevin Morton said bail conditions should be about trying to curb a person’s behaviour and that returning them home can in some instances cause recidivism.

“In many instances it’s the people they hang around or live with that can cause them to reoffend,” he said.

“If you’ve got a cycle like this 12-year old who reoffends when he’s been given Supreme Court bail then the magistrates need to look further afield.”

Yet Dubbo has no dedicated bail accommodation for youth. Youth Justice does engage crisis accommodation in the town for children on bail who are homeless but to date only six children have been referred by local magistrates to use it.

Instead, violent youth have been bailed back to their homes where many immediately repeat their offences.

Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said the crisis bail accommodation was completely under-utilised. “Seeing cases like these where offenders are bailed back to unsuitable home environments or to school is completely unacceptable and shows just how ineffective the process is,” he said.

Premier Chris Minns said there needed to be a “particular focus” on the 12-year-old repeat offender.

“It’s very concerning, I’m first to acknowledge that it’s tying up an enormous amount of resources and it’s not in the child’s interest either if they are constantly in a situation where they are committing breaches of the law,” he said.
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