Cop car rammer in court

Serial offender on parole after Coomera rampage

A SERIAL car thief rammed two police cars with a stolen Land Cruiser trying to escape from police in a Coomera shopping centre car park, forcing officers to shoot out the tyres.

Mitchell Craig Kiehne caused more than $14,000 worth of damage during the rampage, which left shoppers and police officers fearing for their lives about 4.40pm on March 13 last year.

It was the thirteenth time the 23-year-old had been caught with a stolen car.

Kiehne walked from Southne port District Court yesterday sentenced to two and a half years prison after pleading guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and four counts of driving unlicensed.

The former ice addict has been in prison since March last year and was released on parole yesterday.

Judge Catherine Muir told Kiehne his actions were “dangerous, deliberate and calculated”.

“You showed disregard for the safety of you, your passenger and the officers who were in close proximity when you rammed both police vehicles,” she said.

Prosecutor Denise Darwen told the court an off-duty police officer spotted Kiehne in the stolen Land Cruiser on the M1 between Yatala and Pimpama.

The officer followed the Land Cruiser, letting the police helicopter know his movements.

Ms Darwen said police caught up with Kiehne in the Coomera Coles car park, using marked cars to block his escape.

She said officers got out of the car, ordered Kiehne out and rapped on the driver’s-side window with a baton when he refused.

“He revved the engine, accelerated backwards and crashed into the police vehicle,” Ms Darwen said.

“After reversing ... he put the car into forward gear and drove towards two police vehicles … both officers ran as he accelerated.

“Kiehne drove straight into the police vehicle and used the bull bar to push the car forward.”

Ms Darwen said officers were then forced to fire three shots at the Land Cruiser’s tyres to stop Kiehne from escaping.

Kiehne’s girlfriend Sian Brittney Fleming, who was a passenger in the car, was placed on 12 months probation when she faced court over the incident in May last year.

The rampage came a little more than a month after Kiehreversed into another police car which had tried to stop him on February 3 last year.

Kiehne’s barrister Richard Taylor said Kiehne did not intend to injure the officers.

“It was a panic attempt to get out of essentially being blocked in,” he said.

Mr Taylor said Kiehne, who left school in Year 8 or 9, had been an ice addict since he was a teenager. He said since going to prison, Kiehne had gotten clean and was working in the prison laundry.

Kiehne will be living with family in Logan Central.

Judge Muir also banned him from driving for two years.