A teenage girl who allegedly took ice on her 17th birthday before leading police on a wild chase across Ballarat has been granted bail in a children’s court.
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The girl, who The Courier cannot name because she is under 18, had spent two weeks in custody following the alleged rampage in a stolen Honda Jazz in which she risked the lives of two motorists on the morning of May 26.
Police allege the girl had been on a drug-fuelled bender for her birthday on a Friday night before she stole the Jazz in Ballarat’s CBD the next morning.
Officers attempted to pull her over but she allegedly refused to stop, injuring the driver of a Ford Ranger in a collision on Sutton Street and striking a motorcyclist on Howitt Street.
She was eventually arrested after crashing her car more than 60 kilometres away on the Western Freeway in Bacchus Marsh.
In court yesterday, the girl’s defence lawyer pushed for her to be released from custody, arguing she had no previous criminal convictions and was “very, very young”.
However, a magistrate said he was concerned about her alleged drug use and questioned who had been supplying her with drugs on the night before her offending.
The court was told the girl was with an unidentified man in a Toyota Hilux before she stole the Jazz.
A prosecutor said police were yet to speak with him.
The magistrate agreed to release the girl under strict conditions after her lawyer said she would agree not to associate with those she was with on the night.
“She’s been led astray by someone or some group,” the magistrate said.
“If there's any breach then she will be back in detention.”
The girl will return to court next month to face multiple charges.
