Audi thief who stole car from Cheltenham gym hit the owner’s head with a Maccas drink cup
An ice abuser who’d always wanted an Audi stole one from a Cheltenham gym carpark – but what he did later ensured he got caught.
Inner South
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An ice-addled thief stole an Audi because he had “always wanted to drive one”, a court has been told.
Alexander Blanshard, 24, who also went on a hammer-wielding rampage a couple of weeks before, faced Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, pleading guilty to a series of assault and theft-related charges.
The court heard the Cheltenham man was at the Anytime Fitness gym in Cheltenham about 7.30am on October 30 this year.
A gym user put the keys to his 2019 Audi A3 in a locker and went inside to exercise.
Blanshard then stole the keys, jumped in the car and drove off – but an hour later he returned the car o the McDonald’s next door.
The Audi owner and a mate saw the car and as they walked towards it Blanshard got out, wildly thrashing his arms around and punching the air.
He then crushed a Maccas drink cup over the car owner’s head and walked off.
Police soon caught up with him and he admitted stealing the car, saying he “always wanted to drive an Audi”, so he took it.
He said the crime “was not that bad, I returned the car” and admitted crushing the cup over the man’s head.
Two weeks earlier Blanshard had an argument with his parents over money at their Cheltenham home, so picked up a hammer and walked down the street flailing the tool erratically.
He smashed a van window with the hammer, and when confronted by the owner, hit him on his leg.
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In court his defence lawyer said Blanshard had issues with ice and mental health that he was only now coming to terms with.
He said Blanshard had no priors, had never been in jail before, was of a young age and would benefit from professional medical assistance as an inpatient at a hospital.
Magistrate Jade Bott agreed and said he had already spent 15 days on remand.
She said it would appear Blanshard was now accepting treatment for his drug abuse and mental health concerns and ordered him to be transported to hospital for a psychiatrist assessment.
He will be sentenced at a later date.