Mill Park’s Jordyn Rickard steals tools, bank cards, breaks into home
For five weeks, a man went on a wild crime spree across Melbourne’s north east, breaking into houses, cars and stealing thousands of dollars of tools — and he’s just been released back into the community.
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A 22-year-old Mill Park man broke into a home and vehicles across Melbourne’s northeast on a five-week crime spree, stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools, bank cards and a van.
Jordyn Rickard frightened a woman who was home alone when she heard him break into the roof of her Wallan house, Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court has heard.
He pleaded guilty to all charges against him on Wednesday, April 29, having been denied bail and locked up for 130 days since police caught him on December 19.
The court heard his ice-fuelled crime spree began overnight on November 14-15, when he broke into a ute in an Eltham driveway, stealing tools valued at $7100.
He was then seen on CCTV on November 15 stealing $63 petrol from BP Epping, while driving a car with false number plates.
CCTV also caught him smashing the windows of a vehicle at Middle Gorge railway station and stealing an angle grinder and car freezer worth $920 on November 21.
Senior Constable Michael Kaye said there was also footage from the same evening of Rickard cutting the wire to a locked storage cage in an underground carpark in Lower Plenty and stealing tools valued at almost $4000.
On November 26 Rickard smashed the window of a Subaru parked in Hurstbridge and stole an ANZ debit card, which he then used five times at Caltex and BP service stations, McDonalds and 7-Eleven.
The court heard the former bricklayer was wearing high-vis when he went down a Warrandyte North driveway about 10.40am, stealing a log book from an unlocked car, before he smashed the window of a car parked nearby, stealing a handbag.
He then repeatedly used a credit card found in the handbag, before stealing a Toyota van from a Diamond Creek address that night.
He stole $85.82 from Caltex Diamond Creek early on December 12, before the van’s number plates were later found discarded.
Rickard then drove to Wallan with a co-offender, where the car they were driving, which had number plates on it stolen from Rosanna the day earlier, broke down.
Sen-Constable Kaye said after Rickard’s mate knocked on the door of a house and got no answer, Rickard climbed the hot water unit at the side of the house, removed two roof tiles and smashed a window to get into the roof.
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A woman was home drying her hair and heard something in the roof, before she screamed and ran outside, where she saw a man wearing gloves run away, the court heard.
Rickard then stole almost $80 of petrol from Coles Express Thomastown on December 17.
Police caught up with him parked in a Diamond Creek driveway in the early hours of December 19.
After he finally unlocked the doors to the car, police found he had methamphetamine, $945 in cash, tools, and fluoro Whittlesea Council work top.
Rickard’s driver’s licence had been disqualified since September, and he had only got out of jail months before the crimes, the court heard.
Magistrate Helen Murphy said the residential burglary was significantly concerning and that Rickard had racked up a significant number of court appearances in the past years.
But she said it was unsatisfactory that the young offender had not been offered any support for his drug treatment when he was released from prison in 2019.
Having served more than four months in prison, Ms Murphy released him on a 12-month community corrections order with conviction, and that he must get drug and mental health treatment.
She said if he hadn’t pleaded guilty she would have sentenced him to six months’ jail.