CRASH THEFT DUMMY

A CORIO crook with a penchant for stealing cars and crashing them will get out of jail just days before Christmas after admitting his latest crimes on Tuesday.

Kaleb Silcock, 21, stole a Ford Ranger from a home in Lara on December 2 last year, crashed it into a parked vehicle as he backed it out of the property, and then had another bingle when he slid it off the road near Lorne hours later.

After running from the scene, the man broke into a home nearby by smashing a window with a paver, and then stole a Mercedes Sprinter van.

The following day he crashed the van into the verandah outside a Geelong burger restaurant, then dumped it in Norlane.

Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard Silcock, who’d committed similar offences in the past, was arrested the next day after police found him walking barefoot in St Albans Park.

But less than a week later, the man was busted trying to sneak off from a Norlane service station with a $45,000 Mitsubishi ute.

The owner of the vehicle had left his keys in the van while he paid for his fuel, and rushed back to it when he saw Silcock getting inside, scaring the would-be thief off after a brief scuffle.

Silcock also pleaded guilty to multiple thefts from liquor shops in Geelong in May and June of this year.

After one theft at Westfield’s Liquorland store, police caught him within 15 minutes, finding him sipping a stolen can of whisky in the Little Malop St mall.

Another time, he was chased by a witness and pinned to the ground on Barrabool Rd, Highton, after stealing beer from the nearby Cellarbrations store.

Silcock, who’d already lost his learner’s permit, pleaded to burglary, car thefts and a string of driving offences in court on Tuesday, and also admitted breaking a community corrections order given for previous offending.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Peter Beard said the loss of cars and burglary of homes should not be taken lightly, urging magistrate John Lesser to jail the man beyond the 136 days already spent in custody for the sake of community protection.

“The buck’s got to stop,” Sgt Beard said.

“If the penny hasn’t dropped now … when’s it going to?”

“I think you’re right,” Mr Lesser agreed.

Silcock was given a total jail term of six months, allowing for his release on to a yearlong community corrections order days before Christmas.