WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE
A 12yo boy too small to see over the dock walked from court last month after holding up a convenience store with a knife. On Friday, he allegedly crashed a stolen BMW at speed, putting an innocent woman in hospital
A YOUNG boy will face court this week over a highspeed, three-car pile-up that left a woman in hospital.
The 12-year-old was allegedly driving a BMW he stole in the city’s north two days earlier. The Bulletin can reveal the same boy walked out of court last month after holding up a convenience store with a knife. He had to be removed from the dock because he could not see over it.
The case has infuriated police: “You ask those people he hit, do you think it matters if he’s 12 or 30?” a police source said. “They’re driving cars most people won’t hop into in their lives, and they’re driving them like they stole them, because they did. The kid couldn’t even see over the dock. How does he see over the steering wheel?
“Mags (magistrates) don’t keep them in, they just let them go and stuff like this will continue to happen. Is it going to take someone dying before it’s fixed?” The crash follows the arrest of five armed Gold Coast and Logan teens, aged 12-16, for an alleged four-day crime spree in northern NSW. They are accused of theft, assault and a high-speed chase in a stolen Audi.
A 12-YEAR-OLD boy allegedly stole a BMW and crashed it at high speed into two other cars just three weeks after being released from detention for the armed robbery of a convenience store.
The Bulletin chronicled his court appearance last month when Judge Katherine McGinness asked the child, who cannot be legally named, to come out from the dock because she could not see him.
It was the latest in a long run of young criminals running amok on the Coast, including teens bashing others for their clothes, stealing luxury cars, armed hold-ups and the alleged gay bashing of a man and his teenage brother.
Barely visible behind the 1m-high timber partition last month, the 12year-old kid was asked to sit next to his lawyer as the court was told he robbed the Burleigh Heads 7 Eleven at knifepoint in June last year.
He was sentenced to restorative justice after he had already spent 82 days in detention.
He walked from court on February 10. On Friday night, he was arrested in Burleigh Heads, accused of the high-speed crash that put a woman to hospital.
Police will allege the BMW was stolen from Helensvale about 1pm on February 26.
The 12-year-old was driving the car at high speed about 7pm on Sixth Ave in Miami two days later before it crashed, it is alleged.
He is accused of hitting two other cars. A woman in her 40s was taken to Pindara Hospital with neck and chest injuries.
The boy allegedly ran from the scene, before
police tracked him down and arrested him at a Burleigh Heads unit.
The child was charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle, driving without a licence and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. He briefly fronted court in Southport yesterday. The case was adjourned to tomorrow.
A police source told the Bulletin the justice system had become a farce, letting dangerous offenders out continually.
“You ask those people he hit, do you think it matters if he’s 12 or 30, the car was still travelling at speed?,” one officer said.
“They’re driving cars most people won’t hop into in their lives, and they’re driving them like they stole them, because they did.
“The kid couldn’t even see over the dock. How does he see over the steering wheel?
“Mags (magistrates) don’t keep them in, they just let them go and stuff like this will continue to happen. Is it going to take someone dying before it’s fixed?”
The crash follows the Bulletin’s reporting on the infamous Southside Gang travelling to the Coast and stealing cars and breaking into homes.
Sources have told the Bulletin the 12-year-old was affiliated with the gang and had been posting images to social media in stolen cars.
Continued crimes being committed by teens forced police to launch Operation Luminous targeting Gold Coast shopping centres, train and tram stations and other places where teens congregate.
THE KID COULDN’T EVEN SEE OVER THE DOCK. HOW DOES HE SEE OVER THE STEERING WHEEL?
POLICE SOURCE