A teenager is facing more than 50 charges and another month in prison after a crime spree last year.
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Owen Roberts pleaded guilty and details of his offending were read to the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Monday.
The 18-year-old was on bail when his plea hearing first began late last year, but he committed further offences including stealing a goat from an animal shelter and taking it home in the back of a stolen ute in January.
Some of the charges relate to family violence incidents, while the majority relate to driving related offences and offences committed while on bail. Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jack Fletcher said Roberts stole a power drill from Bunnings on October 27, 2020 and returned three days later to steal another item. On October 31 he removed the gates to the car park and spray painted over the camera.
The court heard Roberts made it to Daylesford later that day where he stole a $1200 crystal from a gift store. Roberts told police he stole items to sell them on and fund his addiction to methamphetamine.
The driving offences stretch from May to November when he drove through a red light in Ballarat, sped away from police at 120km/h and turned off his headlights.
He did not have a drivers' licence at the time.
Senior Constable Fletcher said Roberts was pulled over while driving five times in November and December and refused to accompany police for a drug test each time. In December he hit a traffic light pole while driving and he told police he had fallen asleep.
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The court heard Roberts stole a Mitsibishi Triton from an Alfredton property between 3am and 4am on December 31 and drove to the Ballarat Animal Shelter where he stole a goat from a locked pen and drove it to his Wendouree home in the stolen ute. He stole another car from Soldiers Hill on January 4, 2021 that contained work tools.
He stole four rims and tyres from a property in Alfredton and stole another car in Alfredton the next day. Roberts sped away when police activated their lights and sirens, swerved onto the wrong side of the wrong road and through a roundabout on the wrong side of the road with his lights off. He was arrested and told police the driver was his girlfriend.
The case was adjourned after more than an hour spent listening to the summary of offending. It will return to court in March.
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