Accused thief provokes parent, telling him to ‘f--- off’ during a tense courtroom showdown

A father whose car was stolen in Chelsea while his two-year-old son was asleep in the back has been taunted by the accused thief who swore and spat in court.

A teen accused of stealing a car with a toddler inside has faced off with the boy’s father in court, telling him he is “a bad parent”.

Johnathon O’Connor, 18, provoked the two-year-old’s distraught father, smiling at him and mouthing for him to “f--- off” before spitting on the ground in the glassed dock, when he fronted Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Mr O’Connor, from Narre Warren, was flanked by three custody officers and had his hands cuffed behind his back throughout the brief hearing.

But as he was lead out of the court, he smirked and yelled to the dad: “You’re a bad parent, bro. Never call yourself a parent.”

The father, who wished to be known only as Jake, was taunted in court by the accused thief.

The boy’s father, who wished only to be known as Jake, had left his son asleep and unattended in the car with the engine running at a Nepean Hwy shopping centre in Chelsea when Mr O’Connor allegedly jumped in the driver’s seat and fled about 4pm on Sunday.

Speaking outside court for the first time about the harrowing ordeal, Jake recalled the moment he realised his car was gone with his son inside.

“It’s horrible,” he said. “I wouldn’t wish it upon any parent.”

He never saw his grey Volkswagen SUV taken, and ran into a nearby kebab shop in a panic to ask to see CCTV when realising it was gone.

Jake said earlier reports that he had left his son while he went shopping and got an ice cream were not accurate.

He said he had stepped out of the car to take a phone call and was only 10m away.

But he said he wanted to speak out to warn other parents and carers to not make the same mistake as him.

“I just want everyone to know I made a mistake,” he said.

“I don’t really want to talk about it, but I don’t want other people to make the same mistake I made.

“These things can happen. I am just pleased that my son is OK.”

Jake told the media outside court: ‘I wouldn’t wish it upon any parent’.

He said his son had been “traumatised” by the incident, later waking up to find a stranger getting him out of the car and dumping him on the street.

“He does have recollections of what happened,” the father of three said.

“We’ve spoken to him as parents and wanted him to know he is safe now and nothing like that is ever going to happen to him again.

“We are all just sticking together as a family. We’ll get through this.”

Mr O’Connor is charged with dozens of offences, including car theft, obtaining property by deception, and drug and driving offences.

Charge sheets allege he later used the dad’s credit card to buy $24.20 worth of food at McDonalds Oakleigh South.

Mr O’Connor was arrested on Tuesday, alongside Brylee Dickson, 20, from Clarinda.

The court heard Mr Dickson is a “prime suspect” in the Chelsea car theft, but was yet to be charged while police trawl CCTV footage.

It was also revealed the pair were banned from associating with each other as part of bail conditions they were on for their alleged involvement in a series of other crimes.

Police successfully opposed Mr Dickson being released on bail again, saying he had an extensive criminal history involving some 240 charges, and had been arrested four times in the last seven days.

Both accused were remanded to return to court on January 31.