A Trentham teenager who broke into people's houses to steal their cars and deliberately drove at police vehicles while he was on drugs has been jailed in an adult prison.
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A County Court judge said on Wednesday there was no appropriate penalty for Zephyr Ogden-Jones, 18, other then imprisonment despite a non-custodial sentence being open to him.
Ogden-Jones was sentenced to four years and nine months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years and three months.
Judge Mark Dean told Ogden-Jones at a sentencing hearing he had no regard for his victims, who were traumatised and had their security, wellbeing and independence harmed.
Ogden-Jones committed the offences between April 27 and 29 while he was on youth parole, having been in the community for less than three weeks.
"It is plain from this summary your offending is of utmost seriousness. Whilst on youth parole, you committed a series of aggravated burglaries with no regard whatsoever for the security or wellbeing of the occupants of the residential premises or their fundamental entitlement to peacefully occupy their homes," Judge Dean said.
"These crimes were planned and you chose homes that were poorly secured. Vehicles were stolen again with no regard whatsoever for the property of others and you then engaged in criminal behaviour directed at police officers who were performing their lawful duty of protecting the community from you.
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"This offending strikes at the fundamental foundations of our society and in particular citizens' entitlement to safely reside in their own homes.
"Furthermore, your criminal actions directed at the police exhibited your complete disregard for their safety as they performed their duties.
"I have no doubt that this offending must be unequivocally denounced by the court and our community must be protected from crimes of this nature and from young offenders like you."
I have no doubt that this offending must be unequivocally denounced by the court and our community must be protected from crimes of this nature and from young offenders like you.
- County Court Judge Mark Dean
Ogden-Jones attended a Trentham property at 12.40am on April 27, entered the house through an unlocked door and took keys to a Subaru wagon while the female owner slept.
He stole the Subaru and drove in a convoy, with a female co-accused driving a Ford Ranger, towards Ballarat and reached speeds of up to 185km/h on the Western Freeway.
Stop sticks were deployed which damaged the Ford Ranger but Ogden-Jones continued to drive, performed u-turns and chased the police vehicles.
Ogden-Jones accelerated towards the rear of one police car and tried to ram it causing the police officer to take evasive action by driving down a service road.
He then drove the stolen Subaru behind the police vehicle and rammed it before driving off.
At 2am a police officer was standing near his vehicle on Cameron Street, Ballarat, when Ogden-Jones collided with the side of the vehicle and forced the officer to get out of the way.
The court was told between April 27 and 28 Ogden-Jones and co-accused Tyron McGinnes, 19, broke into the garage of a couple in their 80s while they slept and stole both of their cars.
On April 29, police were on patrol looking for one of the stolen cars when they saw Ogden-Jones and McGinnes standing next to it parked in Brown Hill.
The pair got back into the car and drove at the police vehicle. One police officer was inside the car and another officer took cover behind a letter box when the back of the vehicle was rammed.
Judge Dean said he accepted medical reports stating Ogden-Jones suffered from ADHD, which was compounded by a hearing deficient, and polysubstance abuse disorder.
He said Ogden-Jones had been using drugs since aged 13 and was using methamphetamine at the time of the offending and he was a very high risk of re-offending.
The court was told Ogden-Jones' criminal history included eight aggravated burglary convictions, multiple convictions for violence, serious driving offences committed while being pursued by police and drug and weapons offences.
The judge said he accepted Ogden-Jones' ADHD was causally linked to the offending relating to driving at police and ramming their vehicles, exposing them to risk.
"In that your impulsiveness and impaired reasoning skills in part caused you to drive in the manner alleged. I also accept that your ADHD and impaired cognition will result in you being subject to a substantially and materially greater personal burden in adult prison," Judge Dean said.
The charge of exposing emergency workers on duty to risk attracts an immediate prison sentence unless an accused person can show exceptional circumstances, which Ogden-Jones' lawyer sought to do and urged the court to consider a combination sentence.
The judge said he carefully considered the defence submissions and evidence but the only appropriate proportionate penalty in this case was imprisonment with a non-parole period.
Ogden-Jones pleaded guilty to 10 charges including three counts of aggravated burglary, four counts of car theft and three counts of driving a stolen motor vehicle in the vicinity of an emergency worker on duty with one of those charges aggravated.
He has served 81 days of his sentence by pre-sentence detention. His driver's licence was cancelled and he was disqualified from driving for three years from January 1, 2023.
According to the judge, Ogden-Jones would have received six years and three months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years and three months, if he pleaded not guilty.
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