A 13-year-old boy accused of home invasions, car thefts claims he was too young to know what he was doing

A 13-year-old boy accused of invading two homes and stealing four cars during a two-day crime spree claims he should escape punishment because he was too young to know what he was doing was wrong.

A 13-year-old boy wants police to drop his charges because he says he was too young to know what he was doing. Picture: Diego Fedele

A 13-year-old boy accused of invading two homes and stealing four cars during a two-day crime spree claims he should not have to face any charges because he was too young to know what he was doing was wrong.

Police have charged the teen with 12 offences including multiple counts of aggravated burglary and car thefts, as well as driving unlicensed and at a dangerous speed.

Charge sheets allege he broke into two Cranbourne West homes on June 22.

He also is accused of stealing cars from homes in Oakleigh and Cranbourne West.

The alleged offending spanned across June 21 and 22, and includes allegations he ran a red light at the Huntingdale and Waverley roads junction in Mt Waverley.

Court documents say he was also clocked driving at “a speed that was dangerous to the public” in Oakleigh.

The boy fronted a children’s court on Friday where his case was locked in for a contested hearing, where he will fight for the charges to be thrown out by using the doli incapax rule.

The rule presumes children aged 10 to 14 can’t be held criminally responsible.

The court heard a defence-initiated psychiatrist had deemed him doli incapax, but the prosecution indicated they wished to get an independent forensic expert to provide an assessment.

Police will then determine if they will rebut the doli incapax application in October.

The court heard the boy had not stepped out of line since being arrested and bailed in June.

But his father told the court of his concern that police were knocking on the family’s home multiple times a night to check his son was there, waking up their other children.

Magistrate Gail Hubble told him while it was inconvenient for his family, it was a necessary condition of bail that his son present at the door when police attend.

She said they would have to continue to put up with it, explaining the police came in the middle of the night because that is when the alleged offending had taken place.