Young crim faces court over car fire
A TEENAGE boy involved in the ramming of a car with passengers inside, and the torching of a stolen car has been brought beforea judge for his part in a string of “despicable” acts.
The 15-year-old boy was among a group of juveniles who committed the frightening carjacking of a 69-yearold man’s RAV4 ata Stockland’s car park on August 15 2021.
He faced Townsville District Court on a total of 15 charges including stealing and unlawful entry of a vehicle with intentto commit
an indictable offence in company.
The boy along with a 13year-old co-offender approached the man with his car keys in his hands.
The man had been waiting for his wife to finish work, when his keys were snatched from him and car was taken after a strugglewhich involved another cooffender striking and pushing the man – leaving him with a laceration.
The teenager behind the wheel also drove towards the man at one point, as he tried to stop the brazen theft.
Hours later, after picking up two more juvenile offend
ers, the group went to find another car.
They drove to Willows that evening, where two of the co-offenders carjacked a 46-year-old woman at knifepoint in the car park.
A co-offender punched the woman multiple times in the robbery.
While the 15-year-old boy remained inside the RAV4, while some of the teens drove away in the woman’s Toyota Corolla.
On August 16, the boy and a co-offender, still inside the RAV4, rammed a woman in her car on Ross River Rd, with her son inthe car.
The court heard it was not known if the 15-year-old or his young co-offender had been driving at that time.
The two boys later dumped the RAV4 in bushland at Belgian Gardens before torching it, but were later arrested.
Two months later On October 5, the boy was again involved in a robbery in company of a 54-year-old woman at her Mundingburraworkplace. and the attempted carjacking of a woman’s car at Riverway.
It was heard the boy had grown up exposed to domestic violence, but that he had the ongoing support of
his mother.
The boy was granted bail after nine months in presentence custody on June 22, with the court hearing he had since startedan apprenticeship.
Judge Gregory Lynham called the offending “appalling, disgraceful and despicable”, and
acknowledged the boy’s young age and lack of criminal history.
Judge Lynham warned that this would be the boy’s one opportunity to get his life on track.
He was sentenced to 21 months’ probation with no conviction recorded.