Police rang at 6 on Sunday morning to ask the woman if she knew where her car was.
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Puzzled, the car’s owner quickly looked across at the motel table to see her car keys safe and sound.
“Yes, my keys are here with me,” she told police.
Her anxiety levels rising, the police officer suggested she have a look in the parking area to see if her car was actually there.
It was not.
“That’s when I knew for sure something horrible had happened.”
The woman, a former Katherine resident who wants to remain anonymous, was only staying in the town to catch up with old friends for a few days.
She was planning to sell her car in only a few days time.
It was not insured.
The woman spoke to Katherine Times to give “the victim’s side of crime”.
“I want people to know how easily it can happen and what devastating consequences it can have,” she said.
According to police, four local boys – one aged 11, two aged 12 and one aged 17 – stole the woman’s car for a joyride they were lucky to survive.
At some stage during their wild ride, the woman’s car went airborne on Lockheed Road
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At high speed, it struck a mound of boulders and logs at the end of the dead-end road.
Photographs of the mangled exterior of the car, the interior littered with debris and deflated air bags, told of the ferocity of that final, crazy plunge.
After it hit the mound it at first flew, then rolled, before stopping right side up – 40 metres from the initial impact.
The boys walked away from the crash.
Only one needed to go to hospital for treatment to minor injuries.
Police are still investigating the circumstances of the alleged theft.
Commander Michael Hebb of Central Command said it could have been a very different, and a far more tragic outcome.
“It was just good luck that our police officers were not required to notify families this morning that a child of theirs had died,” he said.
“We implore friends and families of any youth, that they believe might engage in such risky and unlawful behaviour, to take the responsibility to highlight the potential consequences and trauma that can be felt by so many across the community.”
“It’s simply not worth the risk.”
Police took the boys home to their parents.
The woman says she has been told that because of their youth, any courts would be unlikely to order them to compensate her for the car.
“I was told about victims of crime laws and possible compensation but again, it looks like it depends on courts, if it reaches a court.”
The woman said she wanted to create awareness among people about making 110 per cent certain their possessions were secure.
“You can do everything right, I had it locked but the spare keys were in the glove box, and this is what can happen.
“A quick thrill for them and this is something I am going to have to deal with financially for a long time.
“I’ve just lost my job. I needed to be able to sell the car, now I don’t have it to sell.
“I burst into tears when I first realised the car was gone, but now the tears have gone, and the reality is I have to live a long time with the consequences.”
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