ROAD TRIPPERS
Girls — 12, 13, 16 — in drugged-up 1200km joy ride
THREE Gold Coast girls aged 12, 13 and 16 have been charged after stealing a parent’s car and taking a drug-fuelled roadtrip to see a Sydney rapper. The trio were stopped by police while northbound on the Pacific Motorway at Taree. The girls were handed over to Child Services and sent home but did a runner on arrival.
THREE Gold Coast girls have been charged with a slew of offences following a drug-fuelled, 1200km joy ride in a stolen car in two states.
The friends – aged 16, 13 and 12 – crossed the Queensland border travelling to Campbelltown in western Sydney to see an underground rapper, according to a furious mother.
The girls stole the car from one of their parents in Coomera on Sunday, filling it with drug utensils. It is understood the 16-year-old did most of the driving.
Both Queensland and NSW police said they chose not to alert the public about the girls tearing along major arterial roads because they were in regular contact with their parents.
The group was finally stopped northbound on the Pacific Motorway in Taree South at 4.30pm on Monday.
NSW police could not verify if the girls made it as far as Sydney while Queensland police said it was unlikely.
The mother of the 13-yearold girl told the Gold Coast Bulletin the girls stole the family car late on Mother’s Day in an attempt to see heavily tattooed “gutter rapper” Kerser, who in a 2014 interview said he moved from western Sydney because fans were knocking on his door at all hours.
The mother said the only way the girls were caught was when an aunt tricked the halfstarved teens by offering McDonald’s on Monday afternoon.
NSW police then cautioned the girls before handing them over to the NSW Department of Family and Community Services which, with the mother’s permission, put them on a train and bus unchaperoned back to the Gold Coast.
However the girls ran away again when their bus arrived earlier than expected at Robina about 10pm on Tuesday night.
Citing legal issues, NSW Department of Family and Community Services said they could not verify the children’s travel itinerary or whether it was common for minors to travel alone.
The mother of the 13-yearold said the department contacted her two hours after the Gold Coast Bulletin first put in requests for comment.
The mother said the stolen car arrived on the Gold Coast before the girls. It was littered with drug paraphernalia.
The mother said she was speaking out because she was furious authorities had not drug tested or charged her girl.
“I want the truth to be told. I’m not trying to cover up for my daughter. I want her to be charged,” she said.
“It’s one of the most dangerous drives you can do and they went straight through without sleep. I know if my sister in law didn’t intervene they would have killed themselves. They wanted to see Kerser and just took what wasn’t theirs.”
On Wednesday afternoon, police charged all three girls
IT’S ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS DRIVES YOU CAN DO AND THEY WENT STRAIGHT THROUGH WITHOUT SLEEP. GIRL’S MOTHER
under the Youth Justice Act for the unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing and being in possession of drug utensils.
The mother said her girl was lucky to be alive.
“The public needed to know there was three drugged up kids with no driving experience which could have killed their loved ones, something should have been done,” she said.
However, because no one was with the girls and their parents were in contact with them, Queensland police said the girls were not in “imminent risk of serious harm or death”.
“This incident did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert,” a statement from Queensland Police said.
“(It) is used when there is an imminent risk of serious harm or death to a child and police have exhausted all other avenues of inquiry to locate them.”
The mother said she continually asked NSW police to send out public alerts until the family realised they had to stop the girls themselves.
“My sister in law convinced them they needed to pull over and eat something. She told them the only way this is going to work is if they handed the phone to (restaurant) staff.
“When she handed the phone over she said ‘do not alert the girls, this is what’s happening, please don’t let them out of your sight’.” She said staff stood in front of the stolen car and did not let the girls leave until police arrived.
The girls were taken into custody where they ate McDonald’s and posted photos on social media.
NSW police said no drugs were found in the stolen car and the girls were not drug tested, which also angered the mother.
“The people at McDonald’s said they were so out of it they could barely even stand up and the car was parked across two spots,” she said.
“It’s so dangerous. Even in the photos you can see at the police station they were affected and they weren’t drug tested.”
Queensland Police Service yesterday said the children were found safe and well.
“As a result of the work of both the QPS and NSWPOL, the children were located safe and well,” a statement read.