Sledgehammer-wielding teen who committed crime spree on bail escapes jail

A sledgehammer-wielding teenager has escaped time behind bars after unleashing a crime spree across Melbourne.

Aydin Hamit was already on bail when – armed with a sledgehammer – he and two other men demanded the driver of a Holden Commodore get out on Collins Street in the city in June, 2016.

The 19-year-old jumped out of the stolen Mercedes the group had been travelling in and got behind the wheel of the sedan.

Running a red light, the teenager then hit a taxi – causing it to spin 360 degrees – and kept going.

He sped through roadworks and drove on tram tracks.

The car was spotted driving the wrong way on the Tullamarine freeway before the air wing lost track of the vehicle at Glen Iris.

In sentencing, judge Irene Lawson acknowledged while Hamit took a lead role in the crime, he’d transformed his life while on parole and removed himself from the hardened criminals he used to associate with.

She said he’d become somebody young boys at his local soccer club looked up to.

Hamit has been placed on a three-year community corrections order and had his licence suspended for another six months.