THE man accused of a jewellery heist at Allan Brothers Jewellers and of sparking a massive police manhunt earlier this week has been denied bail today.
Grant Kelly, 20 from Wendouree, was this afternoon deemed at unacceptable risk to society by Magistrate Fiona Stewart in the Ballarat Magistrates Court.
He was denied bail the day after one of his co-accused, Michael Dawson, chose not to apply for bail.
In giving evidence, Ballarat Criminal Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Steve Murphy said that at 3.42am on Monday, Kelly and two others smashed their way into Allan Brothers Jewellery store on Sturt Street.
He told the court the trio stayed inside the store for 90 seconds, smashing eight display cabinets and escaping with a range of different gold jewellery.
When police attended a Wendouree home on Tuesday morning, the three alleged offenders were all present.
The court heard Kelly pushed against one officer when he was about to be arrested, before elbowing another above the eye and escaping over the back fence of the property.
He was arrested about five hours later after the police air wing and dog squad joined the hunt.
Detective Murphy opposed bail, declaring Kelly an "unacceptable risk" to society.
Defence lawyer Robert Tyson pushed for bail on strict conditions, saying his client was willing to report to police on a daily basis up until his next hearing.
He argued there was no proof that it was client who committed the burglary and the police were only charging Kelly based only on similar clothing that was visible through CCTV footage.
However Ms Stewart denied bail, declaring Kelly a danger to society.
He is due to reappear in court on March 18.