TEEN ON RAMPAGE

Lovely Banks man back behind bars over crime spree

A LOVELY Banks teenager will spend the next year behind bars after admitting to a spree of burglaries and car thefts in April, just weeks after he’d got out of jail.

Jack Hall started his rampage in Lara on April 17 in a $25,000 work ute stolen from a business in Cragieburn a week earlier, on his 19th birthday.

With a co-offender, he broke into a home shortly before noon and ransacked it, stealing four long-arm rifles and 1000 rounds of ammu- nition from a gun safe.

The pair broke into two other Lara homes that day, as well as homes in Rippleside, Drumcondra and Armstrong Creek.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie was told twice that day victims returned home in daylight to find the pair of burglars leaving their home, wearing high-vis tops.

At the Armstrong Creek home Hall and his fellow burglar told the victims they were simply looking for their dog. When the homeowners went inside they learned it was a lie, and as they came to grips with the fact their home had been ransacked, the burglars stole their car.

The court was also told the pair returned to the Rippleside home later the same day while the victim was home, and took the owner’s Subaru Forrester using keys they’d earlier stolen. In the following days Hall and other offenders broke into homes in Geelong, Highton and Lara, stealing keys and then cars while the victims were home.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Alex Good emphasised the impact the burglaries had on the victims, explaining many feared the offenders would return because they’d taken their keys. “All of these victims have been absolutely traumatised,” he said.

The prosecutor said Hall’s brazen spree culminated on April 22 when he broke into a Port Melbourne car dealership with other offenders.

The young crooks stole three cars — a $75,000 Range Rover Sport wagon, a $70,000 Range Rover Evoque wagon and a $30,000 Honda Civic — rammed them into the office building and fences and stole other property.

The total theft and damage bill was close to $200,000, Sen-Constable Good said.

While restitution would be sought, he acknowledged it was unlikely they’d ever be paid. Hall was arrested on Anzac Day, but could not be interviewed straight away because he was drug-affected.

He initially denied involvement in many of the burglaries but agreed to plead guilty to almost 40 charges yesterday, accepting Ms McGarvie’s sentence indication of a 19month jail term with one-year non-parole period. That sentence will be formalised on July 11.