Qld car thieves roasted in hilarious online take-down
Wannabe kid gangsters editing videos for Instagram and Tiktok reels have been roasted for boasting online about stealing clapped-out old vehicles.
Cairns
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Wannabe kid gangsters editing videos for Instagram and TikTok reels have been roasted in a big way for boasting online about stealing clapped-out old vehicles.
Stolen car videos posted to the Instagram everywherecrimes page feature hooded villains flexing for the camera in MGs and Hyundais.
And in the comments there’s been a hilarious take-down of the young crims terrorising the people of Cairns and Townsville.
In one video masked car thieves can be seen flashing a wad of cash and a huge knife while the camera zooms in and out of the Hyundai logo on the steering wheel.
“Flexing his fortnightly Centrelink payment on a Friday,” one Instagram user wrote.
Another said, “bro’s flexing in a Hyundai.”
Others took aim at the car thieves choice of balaclava.
“When you buy your disguise from Sexyland because it’s 50 per cent off with a free gag ball,” another Instagram user wrote.
In August last year the former state government, in response to an avalanche of kids using social media to boast about illegal activity, introduced new laws to try and stop offenders glorifying crime and posting offending behaviour online.
The new offence carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.
Social media boasting was also added as an aggravating factor in a suite of crimes including going armed so as to cause fear, dangerous operation of a vehicle, burglary and assault.
Though it’s difficult to know if new laws have had an impact on criminals posting to social media, a delve into Cairns Queensland Police Service data reveals a steady rise in Cairns car theft since the new laws were introduced.
In September last year after the laws passed parliament, 79 unlawful use of a motor vehicle charges were laid, in October the number was 73, November 55, December 70 and January 89 car theft offences were laid.
Since 2001 car theft rates within the Cairns police division have skyrocketed 163 per cent to 2024 when 664 charges were laid, a figure considerably lower than the actual vehicles stolen which numbered 850 last year.
Asked if kid crims chasing kudos on social media created an impetus for car theft, associate criminology professor Mark Chong said he believed the thrill of the theft was the primary drive for wayward teens.
And it remained to be seen if post and boast laws would be effective in driving down constantly increasing car theft rates in Cairns.
“These children are already stealing the cars due to boredom and excitement, that comes first,” he said.
“Putting it on social media is a way of memorialising the committing of the act, it’s a way of promoting their criminal behaviour to show others who are like minded.
“But we have to see what is the role of the judiciary when sentencing those offenders.
“We won’t be able to say whether the law will have an impact on preventing further offences in relation to stealing of cars until we can answer what is the policy in relation to enforcement and to see to what extent these children are being convicted of these offences.”
Between 2016 and 2022 the number of vehicles stolen in Cairns skyrocketed 115 per cent when an all time record of 1299 were stolen.
Since 2022 a more modest increase of 40 per cent was recorded.
Originally published as Qld car thieves roasted in hilarious online take-down
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