By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Noble Park man has been sentenced for snatching elderly women’s handbags as he rode unlicensed aboard a scooter in a Dandenong Plaza car park.
Ali Ramazan, 23, pleaded guilty to a string of meth-fueled offences at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court including two ride-away thefts and an aggravated burglary while on bail.
On 14 May, Magistrate Suzette Dootjes said the targeting of vulnerable elderly women was especially serious and concerning.
It would have had a lasting impact on the victims, she noted.
In the first theft, Ramazan allegedly rode up to a 73-year-old pushing a shopping trolley and snatched her bag in the McCrae Street car park on 21 August.
According to police, the victim fell to the ground as she tried to grab Ramazan, who fled the scene with her handbag and the $1000 cash inside.
She was not seriously injured.
Three days later, Ramazan and a pillion passenger allegedly targeted a 70-year-old in the same car park, police told the court.
Ramazan snatched the bag with $40 cash and bank cards from her walker as they rode past, police claimed.
The scooter ran a red light at Walker and McCrae streets, rode into Palm Plaza and ran another red light at Walker and Lonsdale streets as the pair fled towards Doveton.
Ramazan was accused of stealing from two cars after his arrest, including a parked car in Lois Lane, Dandenong, in October.
While on bail, he was accused of breaking into a Noble Park house while an occupant was asleep on the morning of 2 December, stealing a laptop and a wallet.
He was also accused of using stolen bank cards to buy scratch cards, cigarettes and booze.
Ramazan, who was spending his first time in remand, told the court that he wanted to reform and “make my family and mother happy”.
“For six years, drugs … made me like this.”
In sentencing, Ms Dootjes took into account Ramazan’s good prospects of rehabilitation, his youth and limited criminal history.
His drug addiction, which was said to be linked to his crimes, would be tackled as part of a community corrections order.
“I was told by your lawyer you wanted to do something (about your addiction).”
Ramazan was jailed for two months, followed by a 12-month corrections order including drug treatment and supervision.
His jail term included 52 days spent in pre-sentence custody – meaning he’s eligible for release in days.
