Townsville: Alwyn Steven Grannigan sentenced over unlawful use of motor vehicle

A serial car thief was busted by Townsville police after forensic evidence revealed he was behind the wheel of six stolen cars in just three years.

A serial car thief is ready to turn over a new leaf after his fingerprints left during a joy ride in a stolen car pointed forensic investigators in his direction, a court has heard.

Described by his own lawyer as having an “unenviable” three page criminal history, Alwyn Steven Grannigan, 21, has been busted six times for the unlawful use of motor vehicles since 2019.

On this latest occasion, police prosecutor Sophie Rosby said the Townsville man’s fingerprints were detected in the interior and fuel cap panel of a dumped car which had been stolen in Townsville on May 22.

Appearing from custody via videolink in Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday, Grannigan pleaded guilty to the unlawful use of motor vehicle.

Noting this type of offending was treated “extremely seriously”, Ms Rosby called for Grannigan to be jailed for nine to 12 months.

Defence lawyer Andrew Maxwell said his young client was not the driver and had only been in the stolen vehicle for a short amount of time.

He said Grannigan had previously been in the grip of an ice addiction – a coping strategy to deal with being exposed to domestic violence as a child.

Combined with his low education level and poor literacy skills, he said Grannigan was “easily persuaded by people to undertake this type of offending”.

Grannigan has since got clean, found a supportive partner to keep him on the “straight and narrow”, and intended to relocate to Palm Island, away from bad influences.

Reading through Granningan’s criminal history and escalating punishments, Magistrate Taylor said previous jail sentences hadn’t acted as a deterrent and “more severe punishments were required”.

He said the repeated unlawful use of vehicles was an “aggravating factor”, warning it would lead to longer stretches behind bars unless there was a “change of direction”.

Taking into account the 90 days Grannigan had already served in custody, Mr Taylor sentenced him to 10 months imprisonment with a parole release date for September 5.

Originally published as Townsville: Alwyn Steven Grannigan sentenced over unlawful use of motor vehicle