Dean Robertson pleads guilty to child stealing after taking a Toyota from a Keysborough street with a baby inside

A man who stole a car with a baby in the backseat could soon be freed from jail after a judge found he has paid a “very high price” while on remand. Find out why.

A man who stole a car with a baby inside could be freed from jail after a judge found he had paid a “very high price” while on remand.

Dean Robertson, 48, pleaded guilty to theft and child stealing offences after he stole a Toyota RAV4 with an 11-month-old boy in the back seat while the infant’s mother looked at hard rubbish in Keysborough.

At a County Court pre-sentence hearing on Tuesday, Judge Duncan Allen acknowledged Robertson, who has schizophrenia, had paid a “very high price” on remand, with much of it spent in solitary confinement after he was assaulted by other prisoners.

Robertson pleaded guilty to theft and child stealing charges. Picture: Facebook

Robertson has spent more than a year on remand. Picture: Facebook

“He’s pleaded guilty, he told the corrections worker that as soon as he realised what's happened, he thought ‘what have I done’,” he said.

“The best way to ensure that (he doesn’t reoffend), is he is properly supervised, including if that can be done by this court, supported and treated.”

The judge said he would consider a community sentence if support was in place.

“That’s all about mental health, housing and community support,” he said.

On March 1 last year, Robertson stole a car with a baby in the back seat while his mother looked at hard rubbish on Putt Grove in Keysborough.

CCTV captured the distraught woman screaming and attempting to run after him.

Emergency services were called after the Toyota RAV4 was stolen on Putt Grove. Picture: Jason Edwards

The baby was dropped off at a community hall in Cranbourne. Picture: Jason Edwards

A previous hearing was told the child was left inside the car for more than two hours while Robertson played poker machines, got a haircut and bought clothing with $900 of cash stolen from the mother’s purse.

Robertson, from Frankston, then dropped the baby off to women at a community hall in Cranbourne, more than 18km from where the car was taken, and asked them to call triple 0.

About 3½ hours after he went missing, the boy was reunited with his distraught mother.

Robertson’s lawyer, Amanda Hurst, previously said her client only realised the baby was in the car after he returned from the shops and found him crying.

But a prosecutor told Tuesday’s hearing it was no longer disputed Robertson - who was shirtless, heavily tattooed and bearded - knew the boy was in the back seat.

“It beggars belief that he wouldn’t have noticed for 50 minutes even in the state he was in,” she said, adding he was chased by the boy’s screaming mother and followed by a taxi.

Robertson, who has spent more than a year on remand, will return to court on July 18.