Prison for bike thefts with boy

A CORIO man was on bail when he stole motorbikes from a Geelong store in a sophisticated break-and-enter.

Christopher Burr was jailed for one year yesterday after pleading guilty in Geelong Magistrates’ Court to charges including burglary and resisting arrest.

At the time of offending, the 30-year-old had been free in the community as he appealed a six-month jail term on separate charges.

But early on January 23, Burr ventured to Peter Stevens Motorcycles on Mercer St with a boy half his age.

The father-of-two also had a ladder and homemade ramp with him to wheel the bikes out after he cut a large hole in one of the store’s windows.

As Burr got to work on breaking inside, the 15-yearold co-offender kept watch.

On several occasions the pair hid from cars.

Once inside, they struggled to steal several large bikes and eventually settled on taking two smaller Kawasaki models.

Burr and the boy also took two bike helmets and a pair of goggles before fleeing towards Geelong’s waterfront.

Police had little trouble linking Burr to the break-in after finding his fingerprints on the homemade ramp.

They spotted him and the boy on the stolen bikes in Norlane a day later and tracked them to the front yard of a home on Donnelly Ave.

A police car drove into the driveway to block their escape, but Burr tried to flee and crashed a bike into the front of the car at low speed.

After falling off, he tried to remount and start the bike, but was tackled to the ground.

Police used capsicum spray as Burr violently resisted arrest.

In court, defence lawyer Michael Brugman said Burr had issues with mental health and had battled drug addiction in the past.

Magistrate Peter Mellas said there were several “aggravating aspects” to the offending, including its organisation and the presence of a 15year-old.

“It was very planned and well executed by the sound of it,” Mr Mellas said.

He set Burr a non-parole period of six months.