TEEN THUG CAR THIEF LAUGHS IN COURT:

A LOVELY Banks teen who drove a stolen car at a police officer who had his gun drawn has laughed at his crimes in court.

Jack Hall, 18, pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday to car theft and burglary charges, along with one count of reckless conduct endangering serious injury.

The teenager was behind the wheel of a Ford Territory — with four co-accused inside — when he accelerated towards an officer inside Crown Casino carpark on November 23.

The incident came hours after Mr Hall and four co-accused broke into a Wandana Heights home and stole a car from the driveway.

Police tracked the youths to Crown Casino after an offduty officer phoned 000 when they spotted the stolen car near Little River.

Before pleading guilty, Mr Hall had been contesting the allegation he deliberately drove at the officer from the Critical Incident Response Team.

Defence lawyer Caetlyn Wells-Simon said Mr Hall was arguing the car had rolled forward and he did not accelerate.

“He saw the gun and panicked and tried to get out of the car,” she said.

But police prosecutor Senior Constable Katie Jean said two officers at the scene were “adamant” Mr Hall turned the wheels towards the CIRT officer and accelerated.

The teenager laughed and smirked in the dock as the prosecutor stated the police’s case.

He appeared to protest when Sen-Constable Jean said the officer drew his gun amid heightened fears following the Bourke St attack, which killed six people 12 months ago.

But that connection was quickly downplayed by magistrate Michael Coghlan, who said it was a “different matter altogether”.

The case was briefly stood down to allow negotiations between the prosecution and Ms Wells-Simon, with the lawyer returning a short time later to tell the court Mr Hall would plead guilty to all charges.

Ms Wells-Simon said it was Mr Hall’s first time in adult custody and that he was struggling with it. “It’s been an eyeopener ... It hasn’t been much fun for him,” she said.

Mr Hall has been in custody since the incident two months ago.

Mr Coghlan adjourned the case to allow the teen to be assessed for a community corrections order.

But he warned Mr Hall further jail time was likely when the case returns to court on Wednesday.

“These are serious matters and they do warrant time in prison longer than you’ve already spent,” Mr Coghlan said.