An alleged thief was caught 'red-handed' by police after he allegedly broke into a secure police carpark to get back into a car he had stolen.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Shamus Touhy, 22, made an application for bail at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Friday after he was arrested for offending allegedly committed while on youth parole.
The court heard Touhy had been out of a youth justice centre for 10 weeks when he allegedly committed an aggravated burglary in the early hours of January 26.
He is accused of entering a Burnbank Street property where people were sleeping inside and he stole a wallet, keys and a car.
Police allege Touhy used the stolen cards at a number of shops to make purchases.
The court heard the stolen car was seen in Maryborough on Thursday, parked outside where the co-accused lived with his grandmother.
The car was taken into a secure police carpark and police allegedly later found Touhy inside.
He is alleged to have climbed into the carpark and got into the car.
"At that part of the offending they were caught red-handed you could say," Magistrate Letizia Torres said.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jack Fletcher said there was CCTV footage linking Touhy to the alleged offending.
Defence lawyer Gorjan Nikolovski said it was Touhy's first time in adult custody and he could do drug screens and have support from the Court Integrated Services Program.
Ms Torres said she was not convinced exceptional circumstances for bail were made out and said the risks were unacceptable.
Touhy was refused bail.
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.