A 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, was already on four counts of bail when he was arrested in Barnard Street on Wednesday, June 5 and charged with dozens of new offences.
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He appeared in court before Magistrate Megan Aumair in the Bendigo Children's Court on Thursday, June 6.
The court heard some of the new charges related to offences that allegedly occurred in company with at least one of two 15-year-olds who successfully applied for bail in the Children's Court on Tuesday, June 4.
They included an alleged aggravated burglary and theft of two Mazdas - one red, one purple - from a house in Langston Street, Bendigo, where a wallet, container of loose change and Apple Watch were also taken.
They were also allegedly involved an aggravated burglary and car theft at Castlemaine, where the court heard the keys to a black BMW wagon were taken from a handbag inside the owner's home.
Police said the 16-year-old's fingerprints had been found in the BMW and footage was found on his phone of him driving the vehicle one-handed at 130km/h in a residential area at 3am.
The boy had also allegedly been involved in a crash when one of the stolen Mazdas collided with an embankment after reaching speeds of 150km/h. After the collision, the car had been abandoned in a position that was dangerous to traffic, according to police.
Offender allegedly involved in earthmoving business thefts
The teenager was also accused of stealing a prime mover, ute and tip truck from an earthmoving business in Rochester.
The court heard that a video on his phone filmed inside one of the vehicles captured him saying, "We're stealing the f***ing trucks!"
But in court the boy interjected to deny that it was his voice in the video.
Other alleged offences the 16-year-old was charged with included trying to break into cars in Maiden Gully and Huntly as well as stealing sunglasses and gold chains worth $1580 from a premises in Jackass Flat.
He also allegedly used a stolen credit card to buy a $106 McDonalds meal.
Teenager experienced challenges 'pretty much all his life'
The prosecution and defence agreed the boys' vulnerabilities, including his age and Aboriginality, saw him meet the "special circumstances" required to qualify for bail.
The court heard he had been subject to challenges "pretty much all his life".
According to defence lawyer Jasper MacCuspie, these included an intellectual disability, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, oppositional defiance disorder and a low IQ, which meant he was "not best placed to judge the consequences of his actions" and in general would be "highly vulnerable in custody".
But police argued the 16-year-old posed too great a risk to the community to be freed.
Boy stabbed someone with scissors, police say
The teenager had been bailed by the Supreme Court in March after allegedly stabbing someone with a pair of scissors, the court heard.
This showed he had "a propensity of arming himself with a weapon when committing a crime", according to the prosecution.
He had also been involved in "reckless" and "extremely dangerous" driving, including now of a prime mover, and was a user of ice and cannabis, the police said.
Senior Constable Ben Whitty gave evidence that he believed the boy, if left to continue offending, would "cause one or more deaths".
The prosecution argued he was also responsible for influencing younger, more vulnerable co-offenders in the Bendigo area, including through Snapchat videos.
According to Senior Constable Whitty, the boy had never complied with bail for "any meaningful period of time".
Teenager would be happy to go into custody, lawyer says
The court heard the teenager had previously been set up with a wide range of support services but had only engaged with them intermittently prompting Youth Justice - which supervises bail for juveniles - judging him as unsuitable for bail.
However, Mr MacCuspie argued his client's lack of engagement was due to his disability, which left him overwhelmed by the number of services he had been expected to interact with.
He proposed the boy return to a previously successful arrangement with an Indigenous support worker, engage with Youth Justice and access new support options through a previously unused NDIS package.
The teenager had told him that day that he had friends at the Parkville youth justice centre and would be happy to be sent there, Mr MacCuspie said on Thursday.
However, if he was, "in the future the community may be at greater risk", because of the more serious criminality he would be exposed to there.
Furthermore, the lawyer argued, his client - who had not been proven to be responsible for carrying out the aggravated burglaries and car thefts - could spend two years in custody while forensic evidence related to the offences was finalised.
Mr MacCuspie also quoted to the court from a judgement by Justice Rita Incerti about the teenager's Supreme Court case: "It beggars belief to understand how keeping a child in custody in these circumstances can break the cycle".
'I'm giving you another chance ... if you don't comply, you'll go to Parkville'
In delivering her decision, Magistrate Megan Aumair said she had been swayed by the lawyer's arguments and by Justice Incerti's remarks.
While "in some respects it would be simple to refuse the application and send him to Parkville," she said, "this court is not in the business of doing things the easy way".
Demanding the teenager tell her he was prepared to change his ways, she granted his bail application on the condition he co-operate with a team of services and organisations who would come up with a plan for him.
"I'm giving you another chance," the magistrate told the boy, making him repeat after her that he would abide by various bail conditions, including a curfew and a prohibition on driving, drug-taking and communicating with his co-accused.
"The community have been outraged by the level of youth offending, in this town and others," Ms Aumair said.
But she believed justice would be better served by the boy's rehabilitation in the community, which the court would oversee, than by sentencing him to imprisonment.
"If you don't comply, you will go to Parkville," she told the teenager.
