TWO young men charged over a recent Yendon burglary in which a .22 calibre rifle, jewellery and irreplaceable sporting memorabilia were stolen, appeared in court on Thursday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jake Castner, 18, of Ballarat and Lachlan Hutchins, 19, of Heywood, remain behind bars after the Ballarat Magistrates Court heard they were also allegedly involved in a recent police pursuit in which they reached speeds of more than 150km/h.
Opposing Hutchins’ bail application, Ballarat police Criminal Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Rod Stepnell said there was a current warrant out for Hutchins’ arrest after he failed to front court in Portland on Monday over unrelated criminal charges.
Detective Senior Constable Stepnell said Hutchins, a regular ice user, was allegedly involved in the burglary of a home at Yendon on August 17.
The court heard an unlicensed Hutchins allegedly drove his mother’s car to the Yendon home, along with two co-accused. Detective Senior Constable Stepnell said the property was ransacked, with items including the gun taken.
The court heard Hutchins was also inside a car which police tried to intercept on August 19 on Geelong Road, with the chase called off due to dangerous speeds.
Detective Senior Constable Stepnell said Hutchins told police during an interview that he believed the car had reached speeds of about 160km/h.
Hutchins was on bail for other charges, including burglary, when he is alleged to have committed these offences around Ballarat.
Magistrate Cynthia Toose refused his bail application.
Co-accused Castner made no application for bail and was remanded to re-appear in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on September 11.
He is charged with committing indictable offences while on bail, burglary, theft, theft of a motor car, possessing methylamphetamine and using methylamphetamine.
Castner’s lawyer, David Tamanika, said his client was withdrawing from a drug of dependence.
