Driver sent to Don Dale for crash that killed up-and-coming rapper Palmo Stingah

The boy behind the wheel of a stolen car that rolled near Manton Dam went on crime spree after being granted bail just days before the fatal crash, court documents reveal.

A teen who was behind the wheel of a stolen car that rolled near Manton Dam killing up-and-coming rapper Palmo Stingah has been sentenced to four years and six months behind bars.

It was revealed the boy, 15, was granted bail just days before the deadly crash and had been on a crime spree that included attacking a youth worker with a broken bottle.

The Supreme Court heard the then-14-year-old had been with Palmo Stingah and three other boys aged 15, 11 and nine when he drove up to the Adelaide River service station about 9.30pm on July 3 last year.

Armed with a pickaxe and a wheel brace, the group raided the servo, stealing cigarettes, cash, sunglasses and lollies, and throwing the wheel brace at a 35-year-old worker who tried to stop them.

They piled back in the car, and the 14-year-old drove north along the Stuart Hwy for about 48km before an overcorrection caused the car to roll several times before crashing into a tree.

The crash wreckage at Manton Dam. Picture: Floss Adams

None of the boys were wearing seatbelts and all were thrown from the vehicle – leaving the 15-year-old with a broken spine and pelvis, nine-year-old with head injuries, and tragically killing the 15-year-old Palmerston rapper known as Palmo Stingah.

In sentencing, Justice Peter Barr said it was clear the musician’s family was still keenly grieving his death.

Earlier on July 3, the 14-year-old driver was caught on CCTV damaging a sliding door in an attempt to break-in to Casuarina Square, and hooning in a different stolen car to Don Dale.

He drove the stolen Toyota Corolla down a service road of the youth detention centre and across a grass field, shaking and climbing onto a fence as he yelled out to some of the detainees inside.

The boy drove off at speed, losing control and spinning out the car before regaining control and driving away – just hours before the fatal crash would occur.

Hours before the fatal crash the boy drove a different stolen car to Don Dale youth detention centre. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The court heard that five days prior to the deadly crash, the 14-year-old had been granted bail for unrelated offences.

One day later on June 29, he was part of a group of up to 20 people who arrived at a youth centre in Malak and began to approach one of the 24-year-old staff.

Children who had been playing in the area were quickly ushered inside as the youth worker watched the 14-year-old break off the bottom of a bottle on the bitumen.

Finding the door to the youth centre locked, the teen threw a chair at the 24-year-old, punched him, then chased him for 100m while armed with the broken bottle neck.

The boy was involved in 65 incidents at Don Dale since his arrest. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The court also heard that after his arrest the boy had been involved in 65 incidents at Don Dale, including making shanks out of a PlayStation remote, climbing on roofs, and jamming the locks of his cell block before assaulting another young person.

He was sedated after assaulting prison staff in an assault for which he was also charged.

The court heard the boy had been diagnosed with autism and ADHD, and had suffered a difficult childhood.

He pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a motor vehicle, aggravated robbery, property damage, driving dangerously causing death, recklessly endangering harm and recklessly endangering harm to a child under 10, and was granted a non-parole period of two years.

Originally published as Driver sent to Don Dale for crash that killed up-and-coming rapper Palmo Stingah