Woman fronts court over wild rampage in the northern suburbs

A father roped in his young daughter, who is pregnant, on a wild crime spree across Melbourne’s northern suburbs that included two carjackings.

Lylley Lawson of Mildura escaped prison for a sickening crime spree across Mebourne’s northern suburbs in cahoots with her father.

A young thug has narrowly avoided a jail sentence for for terrorising two elderly couples during a wild crime spree across Melbourne suburbs because she is pregnant

Lylley Lawson, 22, appeared for sentencing in the Koori Court at Mildura on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to a string of charges, including carjacking, aggravated burglary, resisting and assaulting an emergency worker on duty and unlicensed driving.

She was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order.

Her father Eric Lawson, 38, was sentenced in November 2022 to six years and seven months behind bars for his part in the crime spree.

In the space of just one day on February 4, 2022, the duo committed two car jackings, an armed burglary, trespass, theft, and assaulted police, all while being followed by the police air wing through Bundoora, Thomastown, Reservoir and Preston.

Lylley Lawson and her dad Eric committed two carjackings within a few hours.

Police observed Lylley Lawson running and getting into a Mitsubishi being driven by her father — who ws on the run from police — on the morning of February 4, 2022.

Officers used batons and OC spray to stop them but they managed to drive away. An elderly couple had just returned home when they noticed them enter their backyard.

Eric drew a steak knife before the father and daughter drove away in the couple’s Mazda 3.

He dumped the Mazda in the Northland Shopping Centre underground car park and committed another carjacking by grabbing a 78-year-old man out of the driver’s seat of second Mazda vehicle and throwing him to the ground

He and his daughter drove away in the man’s car and the police air wing continued to follow the pair as they drove through Heidelberg, Ivanhoe, Thornbury.

Eventually they crashed into a parked vehicle at Ascot Vale and police arrested the pair at the scene after a short scuffle.

Judge Scott Johns said when Eric was released from prison, he visited Mildura and his daughter was reunited with him. She accompanied him to Melbourne to attend a funeral but got into criminal offending.

Jail would place significant additional burden on a now pregnant offender who went on a crime spreee across Melbourne.

Lylley Lawson said she regretted what had happened and would not want anybody to treat her elderly relatives that way.

“I was on drugs but I can’t blame drugs,” she said.

Judge Johns said now that she was three months pregnant, any custodial sentence would see her giving birth in jail and the stress and inadequacies of care would place significant additional burden upon her.

Given her genuine remorse and having spent 216 days on pre-sentence detention, Judge Johns said he was satisfied that community protection was better served by her continuing with her rehabilitation outside prison.