The 19-year-old – who cannot be named for legal reasons – pleaded guilty to 28 charges including five family violence intervention order breaches, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, two counts of theft, burglary, attempted aggravated burglary, trespass and three counts of obtaining property by deception.
He entered guilty pleas for unlicensed driving, possessing a dangerous article in a public place, refusing to accompany police for a breath test, six bail condition breaches, two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail and failing to comply with the chief health officer’s directions.
The court was told the man and a co-accused attended a Kialla property about 4am on December 1, 2020, and entered through the back door, with the co-accused taking a handbag containing credit cards and car keys.
The man then unlocked the victim’s Holden sedan and drove away in it, the duo picking up the man’s girlfriend from Mooroopna before driving to Echuca.
It was heard they stopped at a service station and used a stolen credit card to buy items including cigarettes.
The man also admitted to attending a River Rd, Kialla property overnight between June 13 and 14, accessing a shed via a sliding window and stealing items including two bikes, a chainsaw, a hedger and a whipper-snipper. Police found his fingerprints when processing the crime scene.
The court also heard the man attended a Wilmot Rd property on August 22, with a witness observing him in a backyard. When confronted, the man jumped a fence into another property.
Police attended soon after and saw the man rummaging through a vehicle. When he spotted police, he fled into another property, but was arrested soon after.
The man was also found driving without a licence in Shepparton on June 27 and refused a breath test, telling police he “just can’t be bothered” even after he was told he would face a minimum driving disqualification of two years.
Defence counsel Megan McKenna acknowledged the large volume of offending and said “when you see 28 charges it can be quite confronting”, but asked that her client be given the opportunity to engage with support services via a corrections order.
Magistrate Jelena Popovic said it was “obvious” the man should be given an opportunity to engage with a corrections order.
“I don’t like seeing an Aboriginal man with prospects for the future held in custody for 65 days ... the problem is I’m not quite sure how to get you to think before you do things,” she said.
“Sometimes there needs to be significant consequences for that wake-up call to occur.”
The man was sentenced to an 18-month corrections order including treatment for alcohol use. He was also disqualified from driving for 24 months.
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