Darwin man Shane Morrissy distraught after theft of beloved family car

A Darwin single dad has been left in financial strife and without the chance to make memories with his young daughters after his beloved family car was stolen.

Shane Morrissy has special memories of his 1998 Toyota HiLux.

After the car was handed down to him by his father, it became his go-to weekender to hook his boat up and take his two young daughters, Indiana, 10, and Imogen, 8, camping and fishing.

The “old girl” isn’t worth much, Mr Morrissy, 43, says, but holds a special place in his and his daughters’ hearts as the car that they have driven on trips they would never forget.

But while Mr Morrissy was asleep at the Darwin Private Hospital on October 13, someone broke into the car, removed the ignition barrel, hot-wired and stole it.

Shane Morrissy’s car was stolen from Darwin Private Hospital while he was getting treatment Picture: Glenn Campbell

“It was my old man’s car … I have lots of memories in with my girls,” he said.

“It’s very sentimental to me.”

When he woke the next morning and couldn’t find his beloved car outside the hospital, Mr Morrissy thought he was “delirious”.

“I was just delirious,” he said.

“I couldn’t believe it was gone.

“I can’t tow my boat anywhere or go fishing now or do anything with the girls.

“That’s our bonding and that’s been taken away from us.

After he found the ignition barrel on the ground, the reality sunk in.

“They went through the quarter panel window, opened the door and ripped out the ignition switch and bypassed the steering lock and they’re easy the old cars, I suppose,” he said.

The irony of it all was that Mr Morrissy has spent hours working as an auto electrician replacing ignition barrels in stolen cars such as his.

Mr Morrissy phoned his father, who couldn’t quite believe the precious family car had been stolen, and then reported it to police.

Shane Morrissy's beloved HiLux before it was stolen. Picture: Supplied

The theft came on the same night that two Toyota LandCruisers were stolen from properties in Darwin and used in a ram-raid at the Berry Springs Tavern, with those cars both abandoned in Wadeye where Mr Morrissy’s car was found.

But he said it wasn’t until two days later that police were able to interview him.

“They were that busy I didn’t get to see them until Saturday morning,” he said.

After living in the Territory all his life, Mr Morrissy said crime was at the highest level he had seen.

“For some reason there’s less police presence and more crime,” he said.

“I can’t believe how much crime there is.”

Mr Morrissy said he no longer felt safe at home and repeated incidents led him to undergo sleep testing at Darwin Private Hospital the night his car was stolen.

“We need more police presence,” he said.

Police in Wadeye eventually located the car abandoned a few days later and towed it back to their compound.

Shane Morrissy's HiLux after it was found by police in Wadeye. Picture: Supplied

“It looks like it’s been bush-bashed,” Mr Morrissy said.

Now Mr Morrissy faces the expensive task of getting his car back from Wadeye, about five hours’ drive from Darwin.

“I’m trying to get my car back as soon as possible but being a single dad it’s hard,” he said.

“I never worried about insuring it, I just wanted to keep it for sentimental reasons.”

To have the car brought back to his Rosebery home will set him back about $1300 - money he just doesn’t have to spare.

“Birthdays and Christmas are coming and only being a single father I’ve just got to wait to save $1300,” he said.

“It might be next year.

“People have two wages but I’m just a single dad trying to battle on.”

Originally published as Darwin man Shane Morrissy distraught after theft of beloved family car