Benjamin James Sweet: Man jailed after car theft injured owner

A car owner was “fortunate” to escape serious injury after they were dragged along the road by a car thief pretending to be a good Samaritan.

A car thief, whose victim was “fortunate” to only receive minor injuries after they were dragged along a road, has been jailed.

Benjamin James Sweet, 34, faced the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to 40 charges including reckless conduct endangering serious injury, car theft and dangerous driving to evade police.

Sweet was arrested in January after a high speed chase through Melton in a stolen car, reaching speeds of up to 172km per hour and narrowly missing other vehicles.

“Recognising the risk, police deactivated their lights and sirens but you failed to slow down,” Magistrate Amina Bhai told the man.

“Your offending had the potential to cause significant impact to your victims.”

Sweet was arrested after driving through roadworks and crashing into a parked car, attempting to flee on foot.

Earlier the same month he had stolen a car in the Melton area by “pretending” to help the victim start it.

When the owner realised what had happened, they attempted to stop Sweet but were knocked to the ground and dragged by the vehicle.

“Fortunately the owner only suffered minor injuries,” Ms Bhai said.

The court heard Sweet had a “significant” criminal history and suffered from mental health issues and drug addiction.

He was jailed for 11 months and will serve a 15 month community corrections order once released.