A WODONGA youth will spend Christmas and his 15th birthday in custody after he was yesterday sentenced to a control order over the theft of a grandmother’s bag at a Lavington shopping centre last month.
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The youth, who turns 15 two days before Christmas, was sentenced by magistrate Tony Murray in Albury Children’s Court on two counts of theft from a person.
He was given an eight-month control order without conviction, with a minimum term of three months backdated to November 19 when he went into custody.
The youth was an accomplice when an associate stole a woman’s purse on November 11 and they ran off.
But the youth was responsible for snatching a grandmother’s bag several days later as she sat on a seat with two granddaughters near Big W in Centro.
It was about 9am and the woman’s husband had gone shopping when she saw a flash go past her.
The youth who grabbed her bag was wearing a jumper around his neck and a young accomplice was behind him.
The grandmother shouted: “He’s taken my bag, stop him.”
She began to chase him, but realised her granddaughters were on the bench seat and seemed quite upset.
Members of the public started to chase them and the grandmother was handed back her bag when she walked out to Griffith Road.
The would-be thief had been hit by the front of a car and then fell forward into a parked truck before landing on the road which had caused him to drop the bag.
VIDEO: Bag thief hit by car
Solicitor Sue Robey said the youth now realised the theft of her bag would have caused enormous fear for the grandmother.
Ms Robey said the youth had reflected how he would feel if it had happened to his own family.
She said the youth had spent five or six periods in custody at the Riverina Juvenile Justice centre at Wagga this year.
He had a poor history with being supervised.
“He instructs me that he wants another chance to try. It is dawning on him at last,” Ms Robey said.
She said the youth was still recovering from a leg injury suffered when he was hit by the car.
Mr Murray said the youth had only been out of custody for three months when the latest offences happened.
He said the grandmother’s age had been a factor of aggravation in that offence.