Within 48 hours of being granted bail, a private school boy accused of killing a man in a crash had violated several conditions and gone on the run.
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The 17-year-old's bail was revoked as he faced a children's court on Wednesday morning, after he was arrested at his home on Tuesday.
His mother notified police after the boy failed to attend his first appointment with Youth Justice on Monday afternoon and had not been home since Sunday afternoon, the court was told.
The teen is accused of being behind the wheel of a speeding, stolen Jeep when it killed Ashburton man William Taylor, 28, on July 2 in the collision in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Burwood.
The court granted him bail on Friday, after a judge found any risk he posed could be reduced through conditions, which included a 7pm to 6am curfew and living with his mother.
The judge also found the prosecution's case against the boy, who attends a private school in Melbourne, to be weak as it centred on a pair of white runners, a phone call and CCTV.
But within two days of being granted bail the boy had breached several conditions and absconded, a prosecutor told the court.
"Within 48 hours of being granted bail, on the Sunday, 7 July, (the boy) failed to reside at his bail address and abide by his curfew condition," she said on Wednesday.
"His mother, Youth Justice, police had no idea about his whereabouts.
"He didn't have a mobile phone, he wasn't contactable."
The boy, who kept his head down during the brief hearing, was not taking his bail conditions seriously, and he viewed them as "too harsh" while he was studying VCE, the court was told.
His mother informed Youth Justice on Monday that she had not seen him since 2.30pm on Sunday, after he failed to attend his first appointment with the service, the prosecutor said.
Police went to his home on Monday night and the boy was not there.
He returned home on Tuesday evening and his mother alerted police.
The prosecutor said there was "no evidence he has grasped" how serious the nature of his alleged offending was, nor that he was willing to comply with bail conditions.
The boy's lawyer argued he should remain on bail, as he had not reoffended and it was his first time on supervised bail.
He said it was disappointing his client did not attend his first intake appointment with Youth Justice and it was a "poor start" to bail, but reiterated the judge's finding that the case against him was weak.
"It's very short sample period in terms of (the boy's) compliance with bail, not even a week," the defence lawyer said.
The magistrate rejected this and revoked his bail, as she said the "structure and control" intended by the conditions were not sufficient to protect the community.
She said it was "terribly worrying" that he had violated the conditions so soon after being granted bail, and found he was an unacceptable risk of doing so again.
"It was non-negotiable, you've failed from the get-go," she told the boy.
The teen will return to the court on July 31.
Australian Associated Press
