131 convictions: Geraldton child pleads guilty to six charges, to be sentenced next week

A Geraldton child who is one of WA’s most prolific juvenile offenders has added to his shocking 125 convictions after admitting to six new charges and will learn his fate next week.

The 13-year-old appeared via video link from Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Geraldton Children’s Court on Tuesday on seven new charges.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of stealing, one count of obstructing a public officer and trespass while he pleaded not guilty to attempted stealing.

It’s alleged the boy tried to steal a purse containing $2210 of valuables from a woman in a shopping centre carpark, however, he accepts stealing the same items from the victim’s car by smashing her windows sometime later.

On another occasion he stole a ceremonial dagger and didgeridoo to the value of $100. The offences are said to have occurred between November 16 and December 15 after he was released from custody and granted bail on numerous occasions.

In his last court appearance of 2022, police prosecutor Sgt Beau Jones said the boy had 125 convictions and was at one point a top-five offender in Western Australia.

He will reappear in Geraldton Children’s Court on January 17 for sentencing, while a half-day hearing has been set down for May 9.