Teenager stole $112,000 worth of items from Canberra Centre Apple store, CeX at Westfield Belconnen

"Hey, look at me. I ain't f---in' round. Canberra is my city, bitch ass n-----," the teenager gloated as he sat in a car, surrounded by the spoils of an early morning raid he had carried out while armed with a clawhammer.

The 17-year-old's exploits recently caught up with him when he was sentenced over a stealing spree, which netted him about $112,000 worth of items, to 22 months in jail.

Acting Justice Stephen Norrish ordered the offender, who cannot be named because of his age, to serve nine months behind bars before the balance of the sentence is suspended.

ACT Supreme Court sentencing remarks, published on Friday, show the teenager pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated burglary, theft and property damage, as well as a single charge of trespassing.

The boy's offending began early on October 25 last year, when he and two unknown others broke into the Westfield Belconnen premises of second-hand goods retailer CeX.

There, the trio stole mobile phones, laptops, electronic tablets, video games and other electronic goods to the value of $51,208.

"It appears from the available evidence that the offenders were aided in the removal of the stolen property by the use of a motor vehicle, registered to a person with whom the [teenager] was either staying or living," Acting Justice Norrish said.

"It was at the address of the registered owner of the vehicle that a number of items from CeX were recovered, as well as items of clothing consistent with the appearance of the [teenager] on CCTV footage."

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Only $7115 worth of the goods stolen from CeX were recovered by police.

The Apple heist took place a few months later, on January 19, when the teenager and another person broke into the Canberra Centre by smashing through a window in the early hours of the morning.

CCTV footage shows the teenager then used a clawhammer to smash his way into the Apple store within the shopping centre. The boy also used the tool to attack a gyprock wall and enter a sealed-off storage area.

The boy and his disguised colleague could be seen on the surveillance video coming and going through the smashed window several times, carrying away $60,791 worth of Apple products they had stashed in shopping bags.

Acting Justice Norrish said the boy was arrested that night as a result of "obviously quite dedicated and clever police work", but he was not in possession of any of the Apple goods.

However, the judge said there was video evidence of the teenager "sitting in a motor vehicle, surrounded with the spoils of his crime".

He said the boy was "boastfully doing an impersonation of an Afro-American rapper talking about himself and his accomplishments".

The boy spent two days in custody before being granted bail, which was revoked after just 10 days.

His sentence was therefore backdated to commence in January to account for time served on remand.

Acting Justice Norrish detailed how the boy's criminal activities in the ACT dated back to 2018, saying it appeared the child had been allowed to "basically run his own race" unless interrupted by police.

However, the boy had recently demonstrated "a genuine motivation to change", showing "tremendous dedication" to his education while on remand in a youth detention centre.

"There are issues in relation to his future accommodation and the like, and they will need to be sorted out in the next few months before he is released from custody," Acting Justice Norrish said.

"The truth of the matter is, however, that by the time he is released he will fast be approaching an age when continued conduct by him of the character with which I am concerned will lead to significant incarceration in adult custody."

After the boy is released from custody in October, he will be subject to good behaviour orders for 18 months.

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