A young man who had "fallen prey to the scourge of illicit drugs" caused an elderly woman to break her hip when he stole the woman's car from her garage while she was holding onto its door handle.
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Jenard Jim Rhodes, 20, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday to a year and 10 months in prison.
On June 15, Rhodes and a 14-year-old girl convinced a 70-year-old woman to drive them to an address in Tuggeranong in her Toyota Rav 4. The woman agreed before Rhodes and the girl changed the destination to Gungahlin.
The woman did not agree to the new address and asked Rhodes and the girl to leave the car, which they did.
A short time later, the woman heard her car being started and went to her garage, where she took hold of the front passenger door handle while Rhodes reversed the car and drove away.
The woman was pushed to the ground by the reversing vehicle, and she broke her hip. The woman required a hip replacement and also contracted pneumonia in hospital, which led to acute pain.
The 14-year-old girl was later seen driving the car, with Rhodes as a passenger. The car was eventually found burnt out.
Justice Michael Elkaim said in a written judgement the woman had tried to help the offenders but she had been repaid with criminal conduct.
"Yet again we have a young man who has fallen prey to the scourge of illicit drugs and found a life of crime to be an acceptable mode of behaviour. He must be deterred as must the young community from behaving in a similar fashion," Justice Elkaim said.
Rhodes' guilty pleas to charges of aggravated burglary, riding a motor vehicle without consent, causing grievous bodily harm and driving unlicensed showed some remorse for his crimes, Justice Elkaim said.
He said Rhodes should be subject to the scrutiny of authorities in prison before he could return to the community.
"I think he should be sentenced immediately but because of his age, and a strong call for rehabilitation ... his sentence should be tempered by a reasonably short non-parole period," Justice Elkaim said.
Rhodes will be eligible for parole in September 2021.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
