Annaliese Kirchen did not have a job or a licence, but she did not let that stop her making money or speeding away from police in cars.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 19-year-old pleaded guilty this week and was told she would spend three months in custody, putting an end to an “unrelenting volume” of theft and traffic offences.
Wangaratta Magistrates Court heard more than 10 instances of her stealing from shops like Coles, Target and other clothing stores across the municipalities of Wodonga, Wangaratta, Myrtleford and Yarrawonga.
The value was usually between $50 and $200, and the items were immediately put up for sale on the Wangaratta buy, swap and sell Facebook pages.
CCTV footage of the thefts also showed Kirchen driving away from the stores, despite her not having a licence.
She was arrested in Benalla on November 6 last year after police saw her driving, then again on December 1 after she got a stolen car bogged in the median strip of the Hume Freeway at Glenrowan and officers found a small amount of the drug ice inside.
A police pursuit through Wangaratta’s streets on December 31 was called off when the teenager dangerously sped along the incorrect side of Ovens Street.
Kirchen was eventually arrested at her sister’s Wangaratta home on January 19, hiding from police in the bedroom cupboard.
Solicitor Geoff Clancy said Kirchen had battled drug and alcohol issues for six years.
“People who use methamphetamine like she was – she needed to feed the habit and she’s not dealing,” he said.
“She’s funded her habit by stealing.”
Magistrate Stella Stuthridge adjourned the case until April, saying after Kirchen had served more time in custody, she would release her on a community corrections order.