A Queensland couple have spoken about the moment they woke to find an alleged teen thief in their home, then demanded he stay there until police arrived.
Mother-of-three Ashlie Victoria Johnson alleged her partner found a 15-year-old and another teen sneaking around their Toowoomba home early on Thursday.
“I heard my partner yelling ‘what are you doing in our house?’,” Johnson said.
“The perpetrator told us that they were wanting to steal the Audi.”
Johnson’s partner told the 15-year-old to sit down and wait for the police to arrive, holding him there until they did.
driving a stolen car that crashed nearby on the weekend and was the passenger in another car crash in the past 12 months.
9News discovered the same teenager was allegedly driving a stolen car that crashed nearby on the weekend and was the passenger in another car crash in the past 12 months.
His mother, whose name cannot be revealed, apologised for the teen’s behaviour.
“I’m very sorry for the people because I can’t do anything,” she said.
“He keeps going to jail and then the people there put him out.”
The alleged break-in came after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited victims of youth crime in Toowoomba earlier this year.
Last night in Parliament, she defended the state’s youth crime laws.
“$500 million in early intervention and prevention and it is working. It is working,” she said.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli disagreed and said the state needs stronger youth crime laws.
“The government has delivered Weaker laws and fewer police at a time Queenslanders are crying out for real reform,” he said.