A 20-year-old has pleaded guilty to stealing two cars from an elderly couple and using one to ram a police car with an officer inside.
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Tyron Mcginnes was 19-years-old and had been out of jail for 20 days when he broke into the garage of a couple in their 80s and stole both of their cars with co-accused Zephyr Ogden-Jones.
Two days later on April 29, 2020 police were on patrol looking for one of the stolen cars when they saw McGinnes and the co-accused standing next to it parked in Brown Hill.
The Ballarat Magistrates' Court heard on Friday the pair got back into the car and Mcginnes drove at the police vehicle.
One police officer was inside the car and another officer took cover behind a letter box when Mcginnes rammed the back of the vehicle.
Crown prosecutor Michelle Zammit said the police officers followed the McGinnes and Ogden-Jones on foot and found them getting into a taxi.
McGinnes had the drug GHB in his possession.
The police car was repaired at a cost of $3000, the stolen car was written off and both accused were remanded in custody.
Mcginnes pleaded guilty to the charges of theft, possessing a drug of dependence, committing an indictable offence while on bail and aggravated exposure to police officers of risk.
Mcginnes has remained in custody since his arrest on April 29, 2020, a total of 255 days.
The 84-year-old woman who had her car stolen made a victim impact statement, revealing how the trauma of the invasion of her house had affected her ability to sleep.
"For the first time in my life I no longer feel safe and secure in my own home," she wrote.
"At 84, that is sad to say."
Mcginnes also pleaded guilty to making a false report to police.
Magistrate Noreen Toohey said Mcginnes had an 'appalling' criminal history for someone who had just turned 20 and he had failed to comply with every court order he had been placed on.
Defence barrister Brett O'Sullivan said Mcginnes was at great risk of becoming institutionalised given the significant amount of time he had spent in custody in the past two years.
"He is a sad and all too common example of a young man from a disadvantaged background who had parents who were unwilling or unable to provide care for him," he said.
"Substance use was modelled to him and he commenced it at an early age... He has suffered a significant gambling addiction.
"He is still a very young man and rehabilitation should still be a significant consideration."
Mr O'Sullivan said a term of imprisonment was clearly in the sentencing range but he urged the court to consider the imposition of a community corrections order to provide treatment and supervision in the community.
Ms Toohey said Mcginnes had breached corrections orders in the past when imposed after significant periods of imprisonment.
"I am not sure why the court would consider a corrections order again," she said.
"It has really had no impact at all and he continued to reoffend."
Ms Toohey adjourned the case to next week for sentencing.
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