Bianca Richardson says Tin Can teens interrogated son, stole scooter

A furious Gympie mother has spoken out about the lack of repercussions for youth crime after her five-year-old son was interrogated by a group of teenagers at Tin Can Bay.

Bianca Richardson has spoken out after her 5-year-old son Coby was 'violated' by a group of teenagers who later stole and smashed up his expensive scooter.

A Southside mother has spoken out about the lack of repercussions for youth crime after her son was interrogated by a group of teenagers who later stole his expensive scooter and broke it into pieces.

Bianca Richardson took her five-year-old son Coby and her two nephews to the skate park at Tin Can Bay during the July school holidays so they could try out her son’s new scooter.

The family arrived at the skatepark around 1pm on July 4, where the three boys were approached by a group of five to 10 teenagers who started asking questions about the scooter.

“They asked them if it was brand new and if they could have a turn,” Ms Richardson said.

“My eight-year-old nephew, who was on it at the time, said ‘no’ and we then went on to have lunch at the playground tables.”

Coby’s brand new $350 scooter that was stolen by a group of Tin Can Bay teenagers.

Ms Richardson said they “cautiously” hid all the scooters behind a large rock and had a play on the beach for about half an hour.

“I looked over at the rock numerous times and at one stage I did see a kid walk near the rocks but I didn't see him carrying anything so we didn’t run over,” she said.

“When we got back to the rock, we saw only my son’s very expensive Claudius signature scooter was taken and we automatically felt violated and very very upset.

“My five-year-old son burst into tears and my nephews felt upset that they'd been the ones to borrow it and it had been stolen.”

Ms Richardson said she didn’t believe they would be able to catch the teenagers, but after being told by another child in the park where they had gone and their names, she was on a mission.

“The lioness in me came out and I marched into the Sleepy Lagoon pub and the IGA asking if they knew who the boy was, using the name I‘d been given,” she said.

When Ms Richardson did finally catch up with the teenagers, “they were rude and showed absolutely no remorse”.

All that was left of the five-year-old’s broken scooter stolen by a group of teenagers at the Tin Can Bay skatepark.

Ms Richardson said her son’s scooter was in pieces and it was clear it had been pulled apart by the teenagers.

She was given the phone number of the main culprit’s mother and spoke to her the next day.

“She was absolutely no help, giving me a sob story that her son would never do anything like that and that he was given it, even after I told her about us all seeing him with it,” she said.

Ms Richardson put in a police report on Monday, July 5, and was told the police would investigate but said there was little they could do due to the teenager being an underage first-time offender.

“To the kids who destroyed my son’s scooter, I hope you feel really cool upsetting a five-year-old,” she said.

Ms Richardson said she was later told by police the culprit had been spoken to and the case had been closed.

“It's just allowed to be stolen by a teenager and nothing be done,” she said.

“My son is still very upset and will have to wait till Christmas to get one now.”

Originally published as Bianca Richardson says Tin Can teens interrogated son, stole scooter