Lachlan Tre-Weekane: Clyde thief who stole five cars in Gumtree, Facebook scams jailed
A young Clyde crook who stole cars using dodgy cheques has learned his fate.
South East
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A young thief who scammed online car sellers with dodgy bank transfers has been jailed.
Lachlan Tre-Weekane, 22, was sentenced to 11 months behind bars in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday after ripping off people selling their rides on Gumtree and Facebook.
Tre-Weekane committed the crimes just weeks after he finished up a jail sentence for a terrifying attempted robbery at Cranbourne North.
In sentencing Magistrate Suzette Dootjes noted Tre-Weekane had been significantly impacted by the death of his grandmother and serious motorbike accident in 2017 which sparked heavy drug use and poor mental health.
“(But) you’re still a young man … you have a future ahead of you,” Ms Dootjes told Tre-Weekane.
In a push for his client’s freedom last week, lawyer Anthony Maselli said Tre-Weekane had come to the realisation that time spent behind bars was a “waste of life”.
“He’s very much the author of his own wrongdoing," Mr Maselli said.
“His sister has two children, he’s a devoted uncle but it’s hard to help if he spends most of his time in custody.”
In November and December last year Tre-Weekane ‘bought’ five cars online, transferring money into the seller’s account after depositing blank cheques.
Tre-Weekane was quick to nick the cars before banks picked up on the scam and withdrew the victim’s funds.
Police found a number of blank cheques in his room when he was arrested on December 9.
The prosecution agreed that Tre-Weekane was a young offender but claimed he had “not learnt” from his offending and a short sentence was not appropriate.
Tre-Weekane’s 97 days spent in custody was reckoned as time served, with his driver’s licence cancelled for 18 months.
