14-year-old boy faces court after allegedly breaking into 87-year-old’s home and stealing hearing aids

A police prosecutor has urged the courts to “take action” while dealing with the case of a 14-year-old boy accused of breaking into an elderly woman’s home while she was asleep and stealing her hearing aids worth $3000. The teenager appeared in the Geraldton Children’s Court from custody on Tuesday, facing new charges including stealing and aggravated burglary. He is yet to enter pleas. The court was told about 12am on Friday, February 2 an 87-year-old woman was home asleep when a 14-year-old boy and a co-accused cut a small hole in the back door’s security screen and removed a key located in the internal lock to get into the house. Police prosecutor Sgt Paul White told the court the accused searched the home and saw the elderly woman asleep. It is alleged she woke to them breaking in and screamed for them to leave. The accused stole a $3000 pair of hearing aids, believed to belong to the 87-year-old resident. Sgt White said police had found the 14-year-old’s DNA on disturbed items inside the home and opposed bail, claiming there were no conditions that would prevent further alleged offending. “(She is) a vulnerable member of society who has every right to feel safe at home,” he said. Sgt White said burglaries were increasing across Geraldton and urged the court to “take action”. A Community Corrections spokesperson said the 14-year-old had over time become “very compliant” with his previously granted intensive youth supervision order. Sgt White responded by saying: “I’m not sure how he can be complying with the order yet at night burgling elderly people’s houses.” He said not only would the 87-year-old be traumatised from the incident but she would be “severely inconvenienced” because she could not hear properly. The 14-year-old boy spoke out in court after becoming overwhelmed. “I never took those earphones I swear,” the boy said. “When I saw the old girl I walked straight out of the house.” Magistrate Matthew Walton granted the boy bail because he was engaging with Geraldton Flexible Learning Centre. “I think that you want to do your best and sometimes you get into places you don’t want to be,” Mr Walton said. The boy is due to reappear in the Geraldton Children’s Court on Tuesday, February 13. Police have confirmed the stolen hearing aids have not been recovered and they were still searching for the co-accused.