A Mandurah man who stole a car while taking it for a test drive faced the local court this week.
Dain Alan Wainwright Boogaard was charged with stealing a motor vehicle and two counts of stealing number plates following the offences committed on October 29 and 30.
Wainwright Boogaard pleaded guilty in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The court was told Wainwright Boogaard went to a Golden Bay property on October 29 to look at a car for sale.
He took it for a test drive – with the vehicle’s owner in the passenger seat – before stopping at a deli where the owner got out of the car.
Wainwright Boogaard left the car’s owner at the deli before driving off.
Later that day he stole a number plate from a vehicle in Rockingham and attached it to the stolen car.
The next day Wainwright Boogaard stole another plate from East Perth.
The vehicle was reported stolen, and by October 31 Wainwright Boogaard had handed himself in to Mandurah police.
It’s concerning this happened so soon [after being sentenced in August].
- Magistrate Anne Longden
He admitted the offences but told police he had not expected the car to be reported as stolen, as he knew the owner and said he was owed money from him.
The offences were committed while Wainwright Boogaard was on a community order following similar offences a little more than a month previously.
Counsel for Wainwright Boogaard said her client had returned the vehicle undamaged.
She said the car’s owner was a friend, and that the offender “should have known better”.
The lawyer also said Wainwright Boogaard had since engaged with Palmerston House for counselling, but a report from Community Justice Services disputed this, saying not only had he yet to engage, he had been using drugs while on the order.
Magistrate Anne Longden described the situation as “a little laughable”.
“It’s concerning this happened so soon [after being sentenced in August],” she said.
“This all comes back to [your] problems with drugs.”
Wainwright Boogaard was placed on an intensive supervision order for 12 months with program and supervision requirements.
He was also fined $300 plus court costs and must do 60 hours of community work.
His previous order was cancelled.