Two teenagers alleged to have stolen more than $3,000 of goods, including multiple guns, have appeared before court.
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The pair, aged 16 and 18, appeared in custody at the Children's Court on Friday facing multiple charges of theft and burglary.
The charges relate to two incidents in November 2022, where the pair, in the company of others, allegedly broke into and ransacked houses in the Ballarat region.
The court was told on November 10, the pair were alleged to have been involved in a break-in at a rural property in North of Ballarat between 11.40am and 12pm.
The pair, alongside other co-accused allegedly entered the property in a stolen white Mitsubishi Pajero and forced their way into a home, stealing an amount of electronics and jewellery exceeding $1500.
The group were alleged to have then broken into a nearby shed, and steal a number of power and hand tools valued at more than $2500.
The group were then alleged to have used a jimmy bar to open a gun safe, from which they took a shotgun and three rifles.
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The incident was captured on CCTV.
Between 8.15am and 10.30am on the morning of November 24, the group were alleged to have broken into another property in a Ballarat suburb, using a pickaxe on the backdoor.
After gaining entry, the group was alleged to have ransacked the house, taking four watches, a rangefinder, a bag containing an Apple AirTag, a PlayStation, wallet, bank cards, a Dyson vacuum cleaner and Samsung Galaxy tablet.
At 10pm that afternoon, the victim of the burglary contacted police and alerted them to the location of their AirTag - which was tracked to an address in a Ballarat suburb.
A search warrant was issued for the address, during which the pair were arrested.
Police found a loaded sawn off rifle, one of the four guns stolen during the first burglary, at the address.
The Magistrate presiding over the pair's bail application said due to the age of the offenders there would be a presumption in favour of bail unless there was an unacceptable risk to the community for their release.
The Magistrate said they were hesitant to grant bail to the pair, as many of the guns stolen in the offending were still at large, meaning their release may interfere with the course of justice.
Both of the accused had their matters adjourned, pending an assessment from Youth Justice.
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