Accused killer teen driver caught back behind the wheel with a machete

An unlicensed teen accused of driving a stolen car that hit and killed a motorcyclist in Preston has been caught behind the wheel again with a machete while on bail.

An unlicensed teen accused of driving a stolen car that killed a motorcyclist in Preston has been caught behind the wheel again.

An unlicensed teen accused of driving a stolen car that hit and killed a motorcyclist has been caught behind the wheel again with a machete while on bail.

The 17-year-old teen is facing years behind bars if found guilty of culpable driving and dangerous driving causing the death of Davide Pollina in Preston on August 11.

But despite the seriousness of the charges, he was released into the community pending his court case, in a move that disgusted Mr Pollina’s family.

The Sunday Herald Sun can now reveal the youth, in a major snub at the justice system, has allegedly repeatedly breached almost every condition of his bail.

Davide Pollina was killed when a stolen BMW hit his motorcycle in Preston.

And despite fierce police opposition and youth justice not supportive of him getting supervised bail, a Childrens Court magistrate on Thursday set him loose on Melbourne streets again.

The court heard he was in breach of a driving ban, and a requirement he goes to school, abides by a 10pm-6am curfew and answers the door to police during those hours.

In Reservoir at about 4am on November 12, he was allegedly stopped by police driving his girlfriend’s car with three other male youths inside.

Police allege he gave officers a false name, which came up in their system as someone who was subject to a Firearm Prohibition Order, giving them powers to search the vehicle.

A large machete and cannabis was allegedly found in the roadside raid.

His lawyer told the court the boy had explained he was driving his girlfriend’s car because he and his mates had been hanging out for the day and they wanted to go to 7-Eleven to “get a drink”.

No explanation was provided for being in possession of the deadly weapon, which he has now been charged over.

Mr Pollina’s family say they were destroyed by his death.

The prosecution argued the boy should not be given bail as he was a risk of endangering the safety of the public with his continued unlicensed driving and lack of parental control.

The court heard when police knocked on the brute’s door multiple times during his curfew hours, he failed to answer.

He claimed he and his mother were asleep at the back of the house and did not hear the knocking.

An earlier application by police to the court for his bail to be revoked when he was skipping school was refused in September.

Police allege he ran a red light in the stolen BMW, colliding with Mr Pollina’s motorcycle at the intersection of Bell and Lahinch streets around 12.40am.

CCTV captured he and his co-accused passenger fleeing the scene on foot, leaving Mr Pollina, 19, for dead on top of the vehicle.

The accused driver’s lawyer tried to tear apart the case against his client, saying a co-accused had made admissions to police that he was the driver and that no-one else was in the car with him.

The scene of the fatal crash. Picture: 7News

But police say CCTV footage from the crash site debunks that theory, with it showing the passenger getting out first, and the driver following soon after, also out the passenger side because the driver’s side door was damaged and would not open.

The accused driver’s lawyer argued the driver could have climbed over the passenger first to get out, and then the passenger followed.

A friction burn on the boy’s jacket, which police said was consistent with him being the driver, could have happened at another time, his lawyer said.

But the court heard glass fragments found on the jacket had returned a “very high likelihood” to be a match to that from the car wreckage.

And DNA evidence from the driver’s side airbag was also allegedly “extremely likely … 100 billion to one” a match for the accused teen.

The defence lawyer pointed to CCTV which he said appeared to depict it was Mr Pollina who had in fact run the red light.

The 17-year-old is facing years behind bars if found guilty of culpable driving and dangerous driving. Picture: 7News

The magistrate remarked he was “surprised by what I saw in the footage”.

“It appears it turns red when the motorcycle enters,” he said.

The court heard the stolen BMW was travelling “at a very low speed” at the time of the crash, while the motorcyclist was estimated to be doing 82km/h.

The magistrate said it was a triable issue, this being one of the reasons he granted the youth bail, and said major collision detectives would need to look at the traffic light data to determine how long the lights were red.

It comes as the magistrate issued a warrant for the arrest of a co-accused when he failed to appear in court on Thursday.

The 16-year-old boy was allegedly involved in the theft of the BMW and another vehicle from a Pascoe Vale home only an hour before the crash.

He is accused of being the driver of the other stolen car, but court documents allege he was on a FaceTime call with the passenger in the BMW at the time of the crash.

He verified it was the accused driver who was behind the wheel and said the phone cut out soon after he saw the victim on the roof of the car.

The court heard his lawyer had not been able to contact him since his phone was seized by police when he was arrested and bailed on further offending – relating to an armed robbery and thefts in early November – on December 3.