13-year-old from Dandenong walks free after charges dropped

Tasha Lazaridis and her husband Chris were in the driveway of their Ashburton home on August 31 when two masked teens dressed head to toe in black approached their vehicle. Tasha had opened the door when she spotted one of the teens and quickly closed it shouting "we're getting robbed" as they raced towards her. Two teens were captured on the family's CCTV trying to open the front driver and passenger doors before scurrying away. Mr Lazaridis can be seen reversing the car out of the driveway before ramming the alleged getaway vehicle as their two-year-old son screamed in the back seat. Police charged four individuals in the following days, including a 13-year-old boy from the Dandenong area. The 13-year-old faced seven charges — attempted carjacking, armed robbery, dangerous driving whilst being pursued by police, reckless conduct, unlicenced driving, burglary and theft of a motor vehicle — but those charges were dropped this week because police were unable to prove he knew what he was doing was morally wrong under the doli incapax principle.