Bail has been refused for a 14-year-old boy said to be "a risk to not only yourself but other road users" after police converged to arrest him and to recover an allegedly stolen sedan.
His co-defendant, a 14-year-old girl, also faced court and was given a lecture about getting "back on the right pathway".
ACT Policing in a statement said residents of the home on Friday morning woke up to find their home had been allegedly burgled with wallets, cash, and a white Toyota Camry stolen.
In the afternoon of that day, Operation TORIC officers saw the Camry parked in Giralang.
They saw a boy allegedly entering the driver's seat and starting the engine. Officers converged on the vehicle and following a short foot pursuit, the boy was arrested.
Following a review of nearby CCTV footage, a passenger in the Camry was identified as a 14-year-old girl known to police.
"This girl approached the scene of the previous arrest in Giralang and was apprehended shortly after," police said.
The boy, who was on bail for 18 similar charges, was charged with drive a motor vehicle without consent and unlicensed driving.
The girl, who was also on bail, was charged with riding in a motor vehicle without consent.
The pair appeared via audio-visual link in the ACT Children's Court on Saturday for bail applications. The defendants did not enter pleas.
Duty defence lawyer Ewan Small needed to show that special or exceptional circumstances existed for the boy.
Mr Small said the first of the two factors that could amount to those circumstances was the death of the boy's grandfather about 1.5 weeks ago.
He said Friday, the day of the alleged offending, was also the day of the wake for the grandfather, which was "a time of extremely heightened emotions within the family".
Mr Small said the second factor was the boy being set to resume his education this year at a different school, which would allow him a fresh opportunity.
He said the boy was excited and it was "a chance to not have to be around people who have a certain view of him" and "to not have to project a certain view of himself".
The defence lawyer said if the defendant could grasp that chance, it would "be a significant course in terms of addressing underlying criminogenic factors".
Mr Small's submissions related to granting bail included the support of his uncle, who was in court and willing to provide accommodation as part of conditions.
A prosecutor, who opposed bail based on the likelihood of being charged from further alleged reoffending, said she did not oppose the arguments for special or exceptional circumstances.
She described the boy's latest alleged offending as not being "a split-second decision".
Magistrate Robert Cook said he accepted there were special or exceptional circumstances.
"That [grandfather's death] might be a catalyst for a young mind, at 14 years of age, to go out and do things," Mr Cook said.
However, he said he thought the defendant was "a high risk of reoffending" and that the latest alleged offending was "a risk to not only yourself but other road users in Canberra".
"The amount of matters which bring you before the court is significant," Mr Cook said.
"They are all serious and I would not be satisfied what bail conditions I could possibly put in place which would ameliorate against the risk."
Mr Cook, however, said "shutting down" the boy's prospect of turning a corner at a different school "weighs heavily with the court".
The boy was seen on screen shaking his head.
The girl's bail application was not opposed by the prosecution and the court heard she was unaware the Camry was allegedly stolen.
After reading the court material, Mr Cook said while he was reluctant to give her bail, she sounded "largely articulate and you seem to have common sense".
He told the co-defendant the purpose of bail was "getting you back on the right pathway".
"Every day you wake up, only you can decide what you're going to do," Mr Cook said.
"You've got to make the right choices going forward, not continue the bad ones."
The girl responded with "thank you".
