An intellectually-disabled teenager charged over the theft of luxury cars left a T-shirt in one vehicle and his driver's licence in another, a court has heard.
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Jermaine Goolagong, 18, was arrested at his Kingston home just 300 metres from the house that he allegedly burgled.
But the ACT Magistrates Court heard Goolagong's disability meant that all charges against him could eventually be dismissed on the grounds of mental impairment. Goolagong was charged with car theft, riding or driving a motor vehicle without consent, drug possession, aggravated burglary and theft.
He did not enter pleas.
The court heard four luxury or sports cars were stolen from Kingston and Kambah earlier this month and in April.
Taken were a Nissan Skyline from outside a house in Kambah, while a Porsche Cayenne, a Porsche Boxster, and a Subaru Impreza WRX were taken from Kingston.
The court heard Goolagong and another, as yet unidentified person, broke into a house in Waygoose Street in Kingston last week while its three residents slept, stealing their car keys, house keys, wallets and an iPad.
The court heard Goolagong's DNA was matched to at T-shirt found in the Nissan Skyline stolen from Kambah, his fingerprints were found on the iPad in the Impreza and his learner driver's licence was found under the driver's seat of the Boxster.
In cross-examination, the informant agreed that the only piece of evidence linking Goolagong to the stolen Skyline was the T-shirt found in the car.
She also agreed the case against the teenager appeared circumstantial and the witness who saw the cars being stolen from Kingston had described one of the alleged thieves as a Caucasian male when Goolagong was Aboriginal.
Goolagong's lawyer Michael Lalor said his client had been diagnosed with a mild to moderate intellectual disability and could not comprehend court proceedings or give instructions to his lawyers.
Mr Lalor said Goolagong had ties to the community, held down a job, played rugby and had a close relationship with his mother.
But the prosecution argued nothing seemed to stop Goolagong from committing crimes and the court could have no confidence that even the strictest of bail conditions would prevent him from reoffending. The court heard Goolagong did not appear to believe there were any consequences for his actions.
Magistrate Bernadette Boss said she shared ''every concern that it was possible to share'' with the prosecution but preventive detention was not within her remit.
She said she could not keep a person in custody when the outcome of the court case was likely to be a disposal of the charges on mental impairment grounds.
Dr Boss also said the Alexander Maconochie Centre, the territory's jail, was not an appropriate place for a person with a mental impairment. She granted Goolagong bail on strict conditions, including a curfew, a driving ban and daily reporting to police.
