An 18-year-old and 15-year-old boy sentenced in Townsville District Court for stolen car crime spree

An 18-year-old with an “appalling criminal history” deliberately hit a cyclist, while a 15-year-old known as a “prolific property offender” crashed into two cars during a reckless crime spree.

An 18-year-old and a 15-year-old have been sentenced in Townsville District Court after going on a reckless driving spree in stolen cars.

Two repeat youth offenders were part of a group of children involved in a single-day crime spree, during which a woman was stabbed in front of her ill child, a woman using crutches was thrown to the ground and a cyclist was struck.

The two children being sentenced were not the offenders who had thrown the woman out of the car or stabbed the woman.

An 18-year-old with an “appalling criminal history” and a 15-year-old “prolific property offender” sat side-by-side in the Townsville District Court dock on Friday for a reckless driving spree that caused a significant police chase.

Crown prosecutor Thomasina Papadimitriou said in May last year the pair of boys were picked up by other offenders in a stolen Toyota LandCruiser and Mitsubishi Outlander.

Ms Papadimitriou said by 6:45am the 18-year-old was driving the LandCruiser and spotted a cyclist riding near the road and intentionally “clipped” the cyclist on the hip.

Police stopped the Outlander using a tire deflation device and the children switched to the stolen LandCruiser where they continued to drive erratically around Townsville.

The crown said at 11:30am they pulled up alongside a woman and her sick five-year -old child who had stopped at the traffic lights.

One member of the group who is yet to be sentenced, was armed with a knife and he opened the driver’s door, tried to pull the woman from the car and stabbed her in the arm and the thumb.

“She was screaming for someone to call triple-0,” Ms Papadimitriou said.

The two teens were among a group when they stole a woman’s car in May 2024.

Only a few minutes later they stopped outside the house of another woman, who was using crutches to walk, as she was getting in her car.

The same child who stabbed the previous woman once again ran up to the car armed with the knife and pulled the woman from the car, before he threw her to the ground as the 18-year-old climbed into the front passenger seat.

The crown said the 15-year-old, who was supported in court by his mother, ran from the LandCruiser and got into the woman’s car before they drove away.

“The offenders were not intercepted by police that day,” Ms Papadimitriou said.

Three days later the 15-year-old drove a stolen Toyota Camry recklessly around the city and collided with two cars after he drove through a red light, the court was told.

The court was told he had spent 350 days in pre-sentence custody.

The 18-year-old handed himself into police two weeks later, accompanied by his aunt, who also supported him in court.

She said he had spent 336 days in pre-sentence custody.

Defence lawyer Kellie Mythen, represented the 18-year-old and stated that before the May crime spree, he had stayed out of trouble for eight months and had been employed with the Conservation and Land Management group in Townsville.

However, she explained that the death of his cousin had caused him to spiral back into criminal behaviour.

“(He) demonstrated that he was on the right path, making positive steps towards his rehabilitation,” she said.

After turning 18 while serving time in Cleveland Detention Centre, he was transferred to the adult correctional centre, which was a “wake up call” for him, the court heard.

Defence barrister Ross Malcomson, who represented the 15-year-old, emphasised that his involvement in the offending was “less significant” and the boy had accepted responsibility for his offending.

After speaking to the boy’s family members in court Judge Deborah Richards offered the 15-year-old some words of advice.

“(You’re brothers and sisters) probably look up to you,” she said.

“If they see you doing stupid, dangerous things like you’ve been doing then they might think that that’d be good for them to try and I would hate to see your family all in Cleveland.”

Judge Richards also told the 18-year-old he needed to learn how to cope with his emotions when bad things happen in his life so he doesn’t go “back to square one”.

The 18-year-old was sentenced to three years in jail with his release date set after he had served 50 per cent of his sentence.

Convictions were not recorded.

The 15-year-old was sentenced to two years in jail with his release date set after he had served 50 per cent of his sentence.

A repeat offender declaration was made and convictions were not recorded.

Originally published as An 18-year-old and 15-year-old boy sentenced in Townsville District Court for stolen car crime spree