Bizarre twist in ‘baby kidnapping’ case as man accused of stealing a car with a 11-month-old still strapped in the vehicle repeatedly calls cops from INSIDE jail to set him free
- Infant was inside white Toyota which was stolen in Keysborough on Tuesday
- Police say the infant and the car were found at about 5.40pm on Tuesday
- Mother had briefly exited the car and left the engine running before it was stolen
- Dean Robertson, 46, of Frankston is accused of being the man behind the wheel
- Melbourne court heard Robertson called cops in odd bid to free him from jail
A man charged with kidnapping after allegedly stealing a car with an 11-month-old boy inside in Melbourne repeatedly called emergency services operators asking for help to free him from jail.
Dean Robertson, 46, of Frankston was due to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, but did not appear via phone or video link due to his ‘mischief’.
In a bizarre court hearing, watch house staff from a jail cell in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s south east, appeared via videolink from the jail cell Robertson ought to have appeared from.
A mother and son have been miraculously reunited (pictured) after an opportunistic thief took off with the woman’s car with her 11-month-old still sitting inside
A custody supervisor told the court Robertson had continually dialled triple-0 each time a phone was handed to him.
‘He had had a phone call earlier, whilst he had the phone he made numerous calls to triple-0. He created problems there and also he’s acting in an aggressive manner as well,’ the officer said.
‘He’s just refusing to engage and due to the Covid we can’t remove him from the cell due to isolation purposes and the phone, not being able to give him that, was due to his inappropriate behaviour.’
Robertson further refused to co-operate with medical health workers, who had hoped to ascertain what kind of medical assistance the alleged kidnapper might require in custody.
His lawyer, Jack Rabl, denied his client had been troublesome, but jail staff refuted those assertions.
Robertson had told the health worker his jail cell had ‘been his home and she was to leave’, the officer said.
The court heard Robertson was also suspected to be suffering from Covid-19, which meant he needed to be kept in isolation.
Mr Rabl told the court he believed Robertson had a history of psychiatric illness and would be vulnerable while kept behind bars.
The lawyer said he hoped to make an application for bail on Robertson’s behalf should he appear in court on Thursday as expected.
A man has been charged with kidnapping after a car with an 11-month-old boy inside was stolen
Police allege Robertson was behind the wheel when the white 2013 Toyota RAV 4 was stolen in Keysborough at about 2.10pm on Tuesday.
The boy’s mother had stepped out of the still-running car on Putt Grove when a man jumped into the driver’s seat and drove away with the baby inside.
A witness later claimed the mother was looking at a neighbour’s hard rubbish when the alleged offender stole the car.
Police quickly released CCTV images of the incident, showing the terrified mum screaming as her car was driven off.
A search involving helicopters and several police units began and the baby and the car were found in Cranbourne about three-and-a-half hours later.
‘He’s in the process of being returned to mum and dad,’ Victoria Police Inspector Fiona Halford said on Tuesday evening.
‘It was a member of the general public who had identified … the location and subsequently police attended that location and found the child safe and well.’
Robertson has been charged with kidnapping, theft of a motor vehicle, committing an indictable offence while on bail and unlicensed driving.
The Frankston man has been remanded in custody to appear before court on Thursday.
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