Thief who stole car and baby with mum clinging to bonnet says he was a "stressed dad"
A drug-addicted thief, who was out on bail when he stole a car with a baby inside, blamed his crime on his own newborn who he said had stressed him out.
Gurkan Yildrim and another man were caught on camera approaching a Mercedes parked outside a Melbourne school in November last year, when the 24-year-old made what’s been described as an opportunistic decision.
Yildrim jumped into the driver’s seat as the owner was waiting to pick up her child, locked the doors and drove away.
Inside the vehicle was six-month-old Amira, whose mother had been standing beside the car as the little girl slept.
A witness saw the alleged theft unfold and jumped onto the bonnet of the four-wheel-drive in a desperate attempt to save Amira.
But Yildrim allegedly refused to stop and when the woman fell off the bonnet, he continued on, smashing his way through a two-car attempted road block in Coburg.
In court on Tuesday, it was established Yildrim was told multiple times there was a baby inside the vehicle, but he chose not to stop.
Yildrim’s lawyer Andrew Bayliss said his client was using ice daily and had turned to crime to support his habit.
The 24-year-old tried to blame the rampage on his own newborn baby, who he said had stressed him out.
“The only glimmer of remorse in this, is when he tells the witness there’s a baby in the car,” magistrate Suzanne Cameron said.
“If he didn’t do that, the baby would have sat there for who knows how long.”
The car was later found dumped in Brunswick, with little Amira still safely inside.
Yildrim didn’t apply for bail on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to stealing charges.
The matter will be heard in the County Court in July.
