Teen with drinking problem robbed man in his own home

The teenager had been drinking scotch before committing the armed robbery of which he told the court he could remember little.

The teen raised a knife as he barged into the man’s home, the Toowoomba court heard.

A 17-YEAR-OLD boy with a drinking problem has been placed on two years probation for the armed robbery a man in his own home.

The teenager, who as a juvenile offender cannot be named, had been drinking scotch when he knocked at the door of a 61-year-old man’s Dalby home on August 21, the Children’s Court of Queensland at Toowoomba heard.

When the man opened the door, the teen had raised a knife and pushed past him into the house demanding the keys to the man’s car.

He had then driven off in the man’s car, committing a drive-off at a nearby Caltex service station without paying for $80 in fuel, Crown prosecutor Matt LeGrand told the court.

The lad had then driven the car on the highway in a dangerous manner, he said.

Mr LeGrand said a pre-sentence report on the lad spoke of his problem with alcohol and a negative peer group he had been hanging around with.

The teenager pleaded guilty to armed robbery, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and stealing.

His barrister Frank Martin told the court his client had since moved away from his peers in Dalby and was hoping to work and live on the coast.

His client’s parents were in court supporting him, he said.

Asked by Judge Deborah Richards why their son had behaved so badly, the teen’s father told the court that his son’s problem was alcohol.

“He’s a different person when he’s off alcohol,” he said.

Judge Richards noted the lad was due to turn 18 later this month.

“If this had have happened when you’re 18, you’d be going to jail today,” she warned him.

Noting he had since taken steps to rehabilitate, Judge Richards placed the teen on two years probation and disqualified him from driving for six months but ordered the convictions not be recorded.