A 22-year-old woman allegedly filmed herself sitting in the passenger seat of a stolen vehicle during a four month crime spree across Ballarat.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Abbey Stewart cried in the dock of the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Wednesday as she applied to be released on bail.
Police allege the mother-of-one was involved in six incidents of vehicle thefts and break-ins, and using stolen bank cards from October 23 to January 17.
The court was told Stewart and her co-accused allegedly attended a Dawson Street property on January 21 where they entered a side door to steal two sets of car keys and a handbag containing personal bank cards and a business bank card.
Stewart and the co-accused allegedly took a silver VE Holden ute and blue VW Tiguan from the property.
The police informant told the court Stewart then used her mobile phone to film herself sitting in the passenger seat of the ute as it was moving. She said the footage showed the VW Tiguan travelling behind the ute.
On the same day, three transactions worth $2628 were made with the stolen bank cards.
In other charges against Stewart, police allege she broke into a car at the Ballarat Wildlife Park and stole credit cards, stole a car and siphoned fuel from a Ballan property and stole another car from a Ballarat North garage.
Testing on the stolen vehicle from the Ballarat North address allegedly showed Stewart's fingerprints on six separate locations.
The police informant said police attended a South Street property on January 17 after receiving information from the public.
She said police saw the stolen silver VE Holden ute, with two males inside, leaving the address when it drove at the officers, causing them to take evasive action.
The court was told police located the stolen blue VW Tiguan at the address, and after obtaining a search warrant, they located the stolen items belonging to the Dawson street victim and cannabis in the kitchen.
Police allegedly found multiple videos on Stewart's mobile phone of her travelling in the stolen VE Holden ute and VW Tiguan, as well as photos of stolen driver's licences. One was allegedly used to obtain a $90-a-month mobile phone plan.
Stewart was arrested on January 21 at a South Street property, which police believe is being used as a safe house for a group of offenders.
Police opposed Stewart's application for bail because they believed she was an unacceptable risk to the community.
The police informant said the accused was addicted to the drugs ice and cannabis, and text messages on her phone showed she had tried to sell stolen items to buy drugs.
Stewart's Ballarat defence lawyer tested the strength of the prosecution case by saying another person may have used his client's mobile phone and there was no direct evidence of her breaking into one of the vehicles.
He asked the court to bail his client so she could be assessed for a court-based program next week. He said Stewart had an acquired brain injury due to an accident.
Magistrate Leonard Brear remanded Stewart in custody and adjourned the bail application part-heard until next week for the assessment to occur.
He was concerned for the safety of Stewart's neighbours after she became aggressive towards them for contacting the police.
"She regards all of this as a bit of a joke. It's about time she got serious," Mr Brear said.
"Her attitude towards her neighbours. Every decent citizen is entitled to inform police and not be treated like scum or a form of rat.
"She has been on a spree over a significant time, taking people's hard-earned property thinking she is entitled to it and enjoying the experience and this lifestyle. It's all a bit of fun. That's what it seems to me.
"She has to get real."
Stewart is required to show compelling reasons why she should be bailed. She has been charged with more than 20 offences, including car theft and aggravated burglary.