A man who bragged about driving a stolen Landcruiser through Northland shopping centre to evade police and caused terrified children to run for their lives has been jailed.
asserted
children → brag → lives
Giriwa May was sentenced to four years and 10 months in jail at the County Court on Thursday, with a non-parole period of two years and 10 months.
uncertain
May → sentence → years
CCTV footage captured May smashing through glass doors and driving through a children’s play area inside the shopping centre in Melbourne’s north on June 18, 2025, sending shoppers scrambling.
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May → capture → shoppers
Judge Stewart Bayles said the 28-year-old had been using up to a gram of methamphetamine daily in the lead-up to police confronting him in a Northland carpark.
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old → say → carpark
An unmarked police car parked behind May’s stolen 4WD, and police asked him to get out of the vehicle.
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police → park → vehicle
Instead, he attempted to flee by reversing into the police vehicle several times while an officer tried to smash his window with a baton.
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officer → attempt → baton
“It submitted that … you were panicking at this time,” Bayles said on Thursday.
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Bayles → submit → Thursday
“Your only thought was to evade police, which is why you then drove through the shopping centre doors.”
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you → evade → doors
As May drove through the “moderately busy” shopping centre, one woman frantically pushed a pram out of the way while people screamed and crawled to escape, Bayles said.
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Bayles → drive → way
“One woman ran so fast that she slipped and fell to the ground.
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she → run → ground
Items from her hand went flying forward,” he said.
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he → go → hand
The judge described pedestrians in the video as terrified, shocked, and taken completely by surprise as May drove towards them in the stolen vehicle.
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May → describe → vehicle
“One can only imagine the fear that they must have experienced,” he said, adding the wider community was also shaken by the crime.
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community → imagine → crime
“It affects people’s sense of trust and confidence, their sense of safety and security, and their ability to use and enjoy public spaces,” he said.
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he → affect → spaces
May exited Northland shopping centre by smashing through another glass door as children ran away.
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children → exit → door
The court heard that May then drove about 15 minutes to Northcote shopping plaza and dumped the vehicle.
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May → hear → vehicle
He was arrested at his home on Hoddle Street the next day and police seized his phone.
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police → arrest → phone
“An examination of it [the phone] revealed a number of video messages made by you that could be described as bragging about the incident,” Bayles said.
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Bayles → reveal → incident
However, the judge acknowledged May had since expressed remorse.
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May → acknowledge → remorse
May pleaded guilty to intentionally exposing an emergency worker to risk by driving, conduct endangering life, handling stolen goods, and damaging property.
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May → plead → property
His lawyer, Nicholas Rolfe, argued for the 28-year-old to receive a shorter term of imprisonment with a community corrections order.
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old → argue → order
Bayles, however, agreed with prosecutors that a longer sentence with a non-parole period was needed.
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sentence → agree → period
“The offending in this matter is simply too serious,” he said.
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he → say → matter
“People could have been killed or seriously injured.”
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People → kill → ?
Bayles assessed May’s prospects of rehabilitation as reasonable.
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Bayles → assess → rehabilitation
“However, they will be intimately linked to your ability to remain drug-free after your release from prison.”
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they → link → prison
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news → know → ?
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