Teens given years in jail for crime spree of robberies, burglaries and stolen French bulldogs

Two immature teenagers involved in robberies, burglaries, arson and the theft of two French bulldogs during a month-long crime spree have both been handed years in jail.

While they were aged 18 and 19 at the time, they are unable to be named due to suppression orders made before they were sentenced by the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday (19 October).

Sometime between 3 and 4 July 2022, the pair went into a home in Dunlop, stole car keys to the owner’s Ford Focus, and then filmed themselves driving in the car.

“Hocus pocus, get out the Focus,” one of their group said in a film.

Over the night of 4 and 5 July, the pair went inside a home in Monash and stole items like a Tag Heuer wristwatch, prescription glasses, $1500 in cash, an Apple iPad, and an Audi A5, then filmed themselves inside this car.

Not long afterwards, the Ford Focus was set on fire at Angles Crossing Road and the younger teen made more films of them standing around it while they were making comments like, “On fire with the brothers”, and “There’s a nice profile picture”.

The 18-year-old was then involved in a home invasion on 11 July 2022, during which he arranged for an acquaintance to go to a child’s home under the pretext of buying a vape, but instead, the child found two people had arrived at his home before they forced their way inside with a gun.

The child’s parents were assaulted before his father complied with the intruder’s demands, opened his gun safe for them and they stole six guns. The father’s neck was fractured in the attack.

Next, it was early in the morning on 12 July 2022 and a man was at his home in Lyneham when he saw someone getting into his Audi RS5. Another man then attacked him from behind with a baseball bat, hitting him in the ribs.

A third person said, “Let me have a go at him. I’ve got an axe” while holding a small tomahawk.

The group drove away in the car and the 18-year-old then filmed the 19-year-old driving it, in which the latter was captured saying, “Rolling in high-end cars”.

Justice Louise Taylor said this robbery would have been “utterly terrifying” to the man, while the violence inflicted on him would have been “shocking and painful”.

Finally, the pair went into a home in Garran on the night of 18 and 19 July 2022 and stole an Audi RS4 and two French bulldogs.

The 19-year-old was then filmed holding one of the dogs and saying, “This 10-grand French bulldog is now a hostage”.

The teens were arrested over the next couple of days, along with a co-offender who was involved in some of the incidents.

“The value of the items is not insignificant. In particular, I note the sentimental value of two family pets taken for some days before being returned,” Justice Taylor said of the last crimes.

She said the motivation for the burglaries was not entirely clear and she called them “largely opportunistic and unsophisticated”.

“For the most part, the vehicles were used for the offenders to travel around together, show off to each other and, in some cases, travel to other offending opportunities,” she said.

“They are offences, as I have already observed, attended to by some significant immaturity.

“It is, in many respects, rather senseless offending because, as the prosecutor pointed out, the vehicles stolen were not used for any particular purpose, financial or otherwise, other than to facilitate more offending.”

Both men pleaded guilty to and were convicted on about 16 charges each, including robbery, burglary, theft and driving a motor vehicle without consent.

Justice Taylor said there had been two disciplinary breaches against the 18-year-old while he has been in custody, for drinking sanitiser mixed with another drink stolen from an office as well as for owning a bag of ‘jail brew’ in a rubbish bin in his cell.

The younger man was sentenced to a total of about six years and one months’ jail with a non-parole period of about three years and eight months. As his sentence was backdated, he can be released from custody in March 2026.

The older man was sentenced to a total of four years and eight months’ jail, with a one year and 11-month non-parole period that means he can be released in December 2024.

Other sentences had also been taken into account. Both are now aged 20.