Heartless thieves steal man's specially modified Holden
A Melbourne man born without legs has been left devastated by the theft of his much-loved Holden, which was modified to give him his independence.
Phillip Micallef’s Holden Commodore was stolen from an Altona workshop during a ram raid on the mechanic’s garage.
The 55-year-old had hand controls and levers added to the car, and for 20 years it gave him his freedom.
“It was my love and joy,” he said.
“I had it since brand new since 1996 and I always looked after it.”
Mr Micallef’s mother Rose said the theft was an incredibly hurtful act.
“He’s such a good-hearted person you know. He doesn’t deserve what he’s getting,” she said.
“(The theft) is lower than low. Let’s hope one of them might lose their legs one day and see how it is.”
Mr Micallef dropped his car at his mechanic on Monday night. Hours later a white Renault van dropped a man off, who police say then smashed his way into the shop.
The thief then took Mr Micallef’s keys and drove away in his Holden.
“It’s a pretty low life person to do that and I wouldn’t want to even meet him if he got caught,” Mr Micallef said.
“They would have seen the hand controls in the car. They would have know it belonged to someone with a disability and they would have seen the disabled sticker. But they kept going.”
With a now empty garage, the 55-year-old’s only mode of transport is a mobility scooter.
His car is insured but Mr Micallef had spent thousands of dollars rebuilding the car to meet his needs.
Anyone who sees Mr Micallef’s car, with the registration IIS SII, should call police.
