By Erin Pearson
A 17-year-old accused of the hit-run death of an aspiring doctor breached his bail within 48 hours of complaining the conditions were too harsh, a court heard, as it was revealed a 15-year-old in a separate case went on an alleged two-year crime spree while on bail.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, failed to return home for two nights while on bail over a fatal crash in Melbourne’s east, forcing his mother to call police. He faced a children’s court on Wednesday after being re-arrested overnight and had his bail revoked.
He was the second teen to be refused bail in a Melbourne children’s court on Wednesday. A 15-year-old boy, who had been on bail for multiple alleged offences since January 2023, was also remanded in custody after an alleged two-year crime spree that included the violent abduction in September of a schoolboy in Glen Huntly who was left with permanent brain damage.
The court heard that the most recent charges against the 15-year-old relate to an alleged crime spree in which 13 cars were stolen over the past year. Six sets of keys are claimed to have been found on him when he was arrested last month.
Senior Constable Adam Upfield told the court the 15-year-old was arrested after six cars were stolen from car parks in the city’s south-east and west by two people early on June 20.
Shortly after the cars were stolen, Upfield said the 15-year-old was captured on mobile phone footage travelling 180km/h in an 80km/h zone.
On the same day, the teen was allegedly seen in the driver’s seat of a stolen car with three other youths in Cheltenham, when they allegedly rammed a police car before speeding off through multiple red lights at high speed.
Mobile phone footage taken inside the stolen car and played to the court showed frantic scenes as one male is heard yelling “go, go, go”.
The teen was later arrested at a shopping centre near Frankston with three others aged 15 to 17. The three others have all since been released on bail, the court heard, including one girl also charged over the Glen Huntly incident.
The court heard the 15-year-old is one of three teens charged over the false imprisonment of a student outside a primary school in Glen Huntly. An earlier hearing was told the 14-year-old victim was put into a six-day coma after being violently abducted while walking home.
The scene of the fatal Burwood crash.Credit: Nine
The vehicle took off as the boy was hanging from a passenger door, dragging him for about 150 metres before being thrown from the vehicle. He was then run over.
“Police believe if he’s granted bail he will continue to reoffend in a manner that places the public and emergency-service workers at risk of serious injury or death,” the prosecutor said.
The 15-year-old’s lawyer opposed his client being remanded in custody, arguing the teen was intellectually disabled, would be extremely vulnerable in custody, and may not be given any time in youth detention when sentenced.
Alleged crimes involving the 15-year-old
May 16, 2023: theft of a motor car
May 26, 2023: theft of a motor car
July 23, 2023: drive in a manner dangerous
September 2023: series of armed robberies
September 4, 2023: intentionally cause serious injury, reckless conduct endanger life
November 27, 2023: theft of a motor car
February 10, 2024: theft of a motor car
March 1, 2024: theft of a motor car
May 27, 2024: theft of a motor car
June 18, 2024: theft of a motor car
June 20, 2024: theft of a motor car, endanger emergency service worker
He said his client had spent two remand periods at Parkville Youth Justice Centre in March and September before a court granted bail back in April.
On Wednesday, the magistrate said the risk to the public was too great to bail the teen.
“I acknowledge that while custody has to be the last resort, I cannot see an alternative for [the accused boy] at this point,” she said.
“The ongoing allegations are alarming.”
On Wednesday, the same court earlier heard that the 17-year-old charged over the Burwood crash had been released on bail on Friday on the condition that he remain at his mother’s home between 7pm and 6am, which he breached two days later.
William Taylor, 28, was killed in the crash in Burwood on July 2.
The prosecutor applied to revoke his bail on what they described as serious charges, telling a magistrate that while no further offending was alleged, the accused teen absconded from home and was uncontactable from 2.30pm on Sunday to 6.30pm on Tuesday.
He had also failed to attend a mandated Youth Justice appointment on Monday, they said.
The court heard that the accused boy believed the bail conditions were harsh and required him to stay at home while completing his VCE.
“There is no evidence before the court at this time that he’s grasped the … seriousness of charges,” the prosecutor said.
They said that on Friday, the teenager was granted bail as the magistrate then found he had met the compelling reasons test due to his young age, lack of prior convictions, supporting family, and stable and safe home.
The court heard the teen’s mother had contacted police on Monday to report him missing and to advise that he was unlikely to attend his scheduled appointment with Youth Justice.
“At 7.50pm on the same evening, police attended the bail address for a curfew check. [The teenager] was not present at the premises,” the prosecutor said. “By 6pm on Tuesday, the 9th of July, [he] had not returned. At 7.20pm, his mother contacted police to advise he had returned home.”
The teen’s lawyer opposed the revocation, telling the court that the boy had been uncontactable because police had seized his phone as part of their investigation.
It is alleged that Ashburton man William Taylor, 28, was left for dead when a stolen Jeep Cherokee ploughed into his Toyota Corolla as he attempted to turn right from Warrigal Road in Burwood on the evening of July 2.
During the bail application last week, the court heard that Taylor’s family flew back to Melbourne from overseas after learning of his death.
Police told the court in the boy’s last children’s court appearance that the family opposed his release on bail after he was charged with offences including culpable driving causing death.
Police believe six young people in the Jeep ran from the scene while members of the public tried to help Taylor, who died at the scene.
Two 15-year-old girls were arrested shortly after the crash and the 17-year-old boy was arrested on July 3.
The court heard police intended to use a pair of white sneakers and mobile phone data to place the 17-year-old behind the wheel in the collision, but the magistrate was critical of the evidence, telling the court many people in the community owned white shoes.
The teen was released on bail on Friday on the condition that he stay with his mother, abide by Youth Justice-supervised bail, not associate with his female co-accused, and not drive a motor vehicle.
On Wednesday morning, a different magistrate granted the prosecution’s bail revocation request and ordered the teen to return to custody. The magistrate said the law was clear: the safety of the community must be a guiding principle in such applications.
While custody should only be used as a last resort, according to law, the magistrate found the teen had been “unable or unwilling to abide by his bail conditions”.
“It’s my view that in those circumstances, I am compelled to now consider him an unacceptable risk,” the magistrate said.
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