Aydan Boxshall: Alleged Altona car thief crashed into tree in police pursuit

An Altona car thief on the run from police said he “meant to stop” but the car he was in had “no brakes”.

An alleged car thief claims he would have stopped for the police who were chasing him, except the car he was driving had “no brakes”.

Aydan Boxshall, 30, of Laverton, was refused bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, amid police fears he would “simply steal other cars if he was at large”.

Boxshall’s mother, Carmel, said her son was a quiet boy who spent most of his time at home, “fixing things up around the house” and watching movies.

When asked if she would let her son use drugs if he stayed with him, she said: “No, no, there won’t be any of that here”.

Boxshall is charged with car theft, drug driving, stealing number plates and dangerous driving while being pursued by police, among a string of other charges.

In court documents, police allege Boxshall was driving a stolen car, with number plates stolen off another car, down the wrong side of Victoria St in Altona in April.

Aydan Boxshall has been behind bars since April. He was refused bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Penny Stephens

Boxshall, who was not wearing a seatbelt, hit a tree on the median strip at an estimated 40km/h and smashed his head on the windscreen.

Police allege a random assortment of goods on the back seat, including cutlery, power tools, mobile phones and a computer were all stolen, although Boxshall told police at the scene it was “a mate’s car and his girlfriend’s stuff is in the car”.

He told police he “meant to stop” for them “but the car has no brakes”.

In court on Tuesday, Boxshall’s lawyer, Ennes Marcellus, said his client had a “close to near death experience” when he was taken to hospital, “almost passed away on the operating table”, and that his mother would dob him into police if he broke the law while out on bail.

Mr Marcellus said Boxshall plans to challenge the dangerous driving charge, and said police had not checked whether the car’s brakes had, in fact, stopped working.

But First Constable Travis Wright said Boxshall had a 27 page criminal history of almost identical offending and posed an “unacceptable risk” to the community.

Boxshall was refused bail, and is due to a return to court in September.