By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
AN 18-YEAR-OLD alleged car thief was refused bail until his links to a so-called ‘Apex Gang’ were resolved.
Gobriel Achan, of Dandenong, pleaded guilty to nine charges over breaking into a Keysborough house as its three residents slept on 17 November, stealing three car keys and the corresponding three vehicles.
Achan and two co-accused entered the home through a pedestrian door to a double garage, and then an internal garage door between 1am and 4am, police prosecutor Senior Constable Ryan Johnson told the court.
The accused is believed to have stolen two sets of car keys from a hallway side table drawers and a set from the top of the table, as well as a wallet with a debit card and $5 cash.
It was alleged Achan used a key to drive away one of the residents’ Ford XR6, while his co-accused used the other keys to take a Holden Cruze and VW Golf.
His attempted purchase of goods at a Keysborough servo using the stolen debit card was declined.
The three drove around the south-eastern suburbs as a convoy, speeding through speed cameras, Sen Const Johnson said.
Achan and a female co-accused were found in the Cruze by police in Doveton that morning. He resisted arrest and fled from police before being found in a Doveton home’s front yard.
On his arrest, Achan gave a no-comment interview to police. He had been non-compliant with a bail support program that he was on at the time.
Magistrate Julie O’Donnell said it was “highly relevant” whether Achan was part of the Apex gang, whose members had been arrested over similar high-end car thefts and burglaries in recent weeks.
She had recently passed judgement on several Apex Gang members, one as young as 13, she said.
“In the context of that gang, (Achan) is an older offender.”
She adjourned the case to allow police time to establish if there was a gang link.
“I’m concerned about the risk that Mr Achan is being to the community.
“In one of the briefs, it talks about (the accused and associates) driving in a convoy through red lights.
“I don’t have to say what the possible consequences are. We have already seen them.”
Achan was remanded in custody to appear at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on December 21.
