A 19-year-old Ballarat man who police have described as a “ringleader” has been told his repetitive offending warranted nothing but detention.
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Dylan Walsh, who pleaded guilty in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court to 10 charges including aggravated burglary and multiple counts of theft of a car and dangerous driving while being pursued by police, was on Tuesday sentenced to 15 months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
The sentencing magistrate, Ronald Saines, told Walsh his offending was “gravely serious”.
“It indicates you’re an endangerment to yourself, an embarrassment to your family and most importantly a danger to the community,” he said.
“(Aggravated burglary) is the stuff that causes people to gravely fear their safety. It is punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment.
“My judgement is there must be a considerable sentence (imposed).”
The court earlier heard Walsh was involved in an aggravated burglary in November where a St Chester Avenue garage was forced open and a car stolen while a family slept inside.
Walsh was also involved in the theft of another car the same month, as well as two police evades.
His lawyer, Scott Belcher, said while it was conceded the offending warranted some sort of detention, his client was a young offender and would benefit from the rehabilitative components of a youth justice centre rather than placement in an adult prison.
Mr Belcher said Walsh, who was “running amok” by year nine, came from a good family who had never had any involvement with police and who continuously tried to remove their son from the drug scene.
He said it was this family support that separated him from the average young offender, and gave him a good chance of rehabilitating.
He added while police viewed his client as a ringleader, he could be better described as a follower because of his learning disability.
Mr Saines said while no other sentence than detention was warranted, serving the time in a youth justice centre was appropriate.