‘I will not resign’: Katarina Carroll defiant amid youth crime crisis, bail blow-up
Crime victim advocates and former and current top cops have expressed frustration at bail laws after it was revealed the 16-year-old charged with a grandmother’s murder was out on bail.
Police & Courts
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Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll has defiantly declared she will not step down despite calls for her to resign amid the state’s youth crime crisis.
The adamant declaration comes as Queensland police and crime victim advocates voice their frustration at bail laws following the revelation that the 16-year-old accused of murdering an Ipswich grandmother was on bail.
Vyleen White was fatally stabbed in the underground carpark of her local shops the Redbank Town Centre on Saturday before her Hyundai Getz was allegedly stolen.
On Tuesday, it emerged the boy charged with her murder was on bail for armed robbery offences, despite police opposing it, at the time of the stabbing.
9 News reported the 16-year-old charged over Mrs White’s death had allegedly threatened another woman in Parkinson in the past.
It reported the boy was on bail for three charges of armed robbery at the time of the incident on Saturday.
Asked about calls for her resignation, Ms Carroll told 9 News she would not.
“No I will not,” she told 9 News.
“I’m in it for the long haul.”
Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said he was frustrated to see serious young alleged criminals released on bail.
“We do get frustrated when we see serious repeat offenders committing more offences,” Mr Chelepy said, speaking generally.
“But like I said, it’s complex … I think we’re doing a good job, I think the troops work hard every day.”
Asked whether police would support the removal of detention as a last resort, Mr Chelepy didn’t take a side.
“Even if the law changes, we’re still going to see young offenders get bail and we are still going to have strategies in place to keep the community safe.
“If the law changes, we will adjust.”
Former Gold Coast police superintendent Jim Keogh told media that legislation must be introduced to better support victims of crime.
“Change the legislation to indicate that if juvenile offenders repeat offences on bail, they’re going to be remanded in custody,” Mr Keogh told Channel 7.
“It was only a few years ago that we had a bikie uprising taking place here in Queensland, the laws were effective, they were immediate and they actually eradicated the bikie problem here.
“With multiple deaths as a result of these juvenile gangs, we’re not seeing the same legislative muscle that supports the community. Why not?
“Look, it is harsh legislation, but I think around 30 people have died. Queensland can’t take any more.”
Speaking about the alleged murder of Mrs White, Mr Keogh said: “There’s a gentleman who has been married for 50 years (and) has lost his wife … This has to stop.
“Legislation must be introduced to remove the offenders from society in the interests of community safety. It can’t go on …” he said.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday morning, Ipswich Superintendent Kylie Rigg described as a “terrible tragedy” the circumstances which led to the boy allegedly stabbing Mrs White, saying police had been using existing laws “as best as we can”.
“This is an individual who on this night took it upon himself to stab a woman at a shopping centre … that was an individual choice … not all offenders are juveniles and certainly not all juveniles are offenders but police are ready to respond and we are absolutely condemning the acts over the weekend,” Supt Rigg told media.
“It is not up to me to make comments about the laws but what I can say is that we operate them to full effect and we use them as best we can to make sure that we can bring people into custody as soon as possible and have them before the courts.
“Our officers are absolutely dedicated to the cause and I know that they feel for the community and that they know the family is extremely hurt through this terrible, terrible tragedy.”
Five teens – three aged 16 and two just 15 – have been charged in relation to the incident. Four of them, including the accused killer, appeared in courts across the South East on Tuesday.
Supt Rigg said 14 investigators had “spent days working through the details to make sure that we can bring these offenders to the courts”.
Voice for Victims campaigner Ben Cannon said the community would be in danger as long as high-risk children continued to be granted bail.
“We understand that if we don’t get better at preventing crime then we end up with more victims, the worrying part also is these 15 year olds are committing crimes that were once the domain of adults,” he said.
“Where do we get from here, do we end up with these kids carrying guns? We are so terrified of where the escalation goes.
“We just want the government and the bureaucrats to feel the pain the community is feeling but they still seem to be dragging their feet and going slow on this issue, it’s terrifying.”
Mrs White’s husband, Victor White, told Premier Steven Miles he needed to step up and use his power to protect innocent Queenslanders.
It came as Mr Miles took the extraordinary step on Tuesday of seeking advice on “changing magistrate behaviour” after only one of the four who presided over the hearings for five teens linked to the stabbing of the 70-year-old woman opened their courtroom.
Mr Cannon commended Mr White’s brave words.
“For what’s going on in his week he has been remarkably courageous, we’ve asked the Premier to be brave and courageous as well. We’re yet to see that,” he said.
“We still get bureaucratic rhetoric and no real action at a street level where these crimes are going to be prevented.”
Police Minister Mark Ryan said magistrates had the power to keep the community safe.
He vehemently rejected any suggestion that magistrates, who are picked by the government, made decisions based on “political ideology”.
“The courts have every single tool and their toolbox to keep the community safe,” Mr Ryan said.
“I think you get better decisions when they are publicly scrutinised.
“The priority should always be on open and transparent decision making.”
“We’ve given (magistrates) the strong laws, the confidence around police resourcing … but I encourage those (magistrates) that aren’t (remanding serious recidivist offenders) to reflect on the community sentiment and use the tools in their toolbox which are strong and measured and reflect the comm expectations that the community should be protected,” Mr Ryan said,
Mr Ryan couldn’t say whether Ms White could have been spared if the 16-year-old wasn’t released on bail.
“There’s a lot of hypotheticals there. For the most part, most offenders are released from custody at some point.
“I think our hearts will always just be broken for the White family and what happened to them.”
Asked whether it was “hypocritical” for the government to put the onus on Labor-appointed magistrates to keep serious repeat offenders off the streets, Mr Ryan said: “I dispute the premise of your question in that (magistrates) are somehow politicised because of the government that appoints them”.
“There is a robust approach around judicial appointments that includes consolation with legal stakeholders, the law society, heads of jurisdiction, the bar association,” he said.
“Judicial officers take an oath to act independently and I would strongly dispute that they are making decisions based on political ideology.
“And in fact the political ideology is quite clear here and that is this government has taken a very strong approach to ensuring community safety is prioritised by the courts which is why I have been very robust in my comments around the expectation that I have, the government has and the community has around ensuring that the community is protected from serious repeat offenders.”
Asked about a recent media survey that suggested 80 per cent of Queenslanders don’t feel safe in their homes, Mr Ryan said: “It is a priority of government that the community is safe so of course if the community is feeling safe … I have never shied away from acknowledging that there are concerns in the community that is why we continue to throw everything at (youth crime)”.
Mr Ryan said the laws were “very clear” regarding the presumption against bail for serious repeat offenders.
“I don’t think the law can be any clearer around the presumption against bail for serious recidivist offenders – the laws are very clear,” he said.
“I don’t deny for one moment that it is difficult being a judicial officer but no one is immune from criticism and when people make decisions or take certain actions then they should expect those decisions and actions to be scrutinised.
“And if they have made a wrong decision then they need to reflect on that.”
Speaking about Childrens Court and media access, Mr Ryan said: “I think the priority should always be on open and transparent decision making”.
Opposition leader David Crisafulli has declared “what’s it going to take?” as he slammed the government’s youth crime record while sensationally promising Queenslanders to reduce crime and make immediate law changes should he become Premier.
The Opposition Leader gave an impassioned election-inspired spiel on Wednesday following Steven Miles’ comments a day earlier at the Queensland Media Club, where the Premier indicated commentary on whether the slaying murder of grandmother Vyleen White could have been prevented was unfair.
“Queenslanders are at breaking point, and for the government to give up on finding more solutions – it’s just the most incredibly heart-wrenching thing for Queenslanders to hear,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“What’s it going to take? What’s it going to take for the government to get on the same page as the rest of Queensland?
“If the government continues to say there’s nothing more that can be done, we will continue to put forward the solutions and we will intend to make this an issue so that Queenslanders know that there is a better way than what they’re experiencing.”
Mr Crisafulli promised removing detention as a last resort would be done “this calendar year” should the LNP win government in October.
Mr Crisafulli said there were “solutions on the table”, as he urged the government to adopt a range of policies he had pitched.
“Ensuring breach of bail is an offence, removing detention as a last resort, gold-standard early intervention, opening up the Children’s Court, reforming the broken resi-care system, making child safety work again, increasing police numbers – how many times have you all heard me talking about these things – repeatedly?” he said.
Supt Rigg said she had visited the shopping centre a number of times since Ms White’s alleged murder and had spoken with community members who “expressed that they are deeply concerned about their safety”.
“I’ve listened very long and hard to their concerns and I have spoken with our local police,” she said.
“We have a number of strategies that we have been using up to and prior to this incident and will continue, in fact we will probably ramp those up in the next couple of weeks just to make sure that we are a ready presence in the community.
“Some of those things include our Operation Whisky Unison – additional hours for our police and in fact since that came into place we have had over 8,800 officer patrols conducted.
“Those patrols have been conducted in and around that location … since Saturday we have had the mobile police beat facility at the location, it has been a ready presence, it has been very visible and I have seen a number of community members go up to police and talk about the concerns they have at that particular shopping centre.”
Supt Rigg said a strong police presence would also be visible at other Ipswich shopping centres.
Asked whether there was a problem with youth crime in Ipswich, Supt Rigg said: “Through our wanding operation we have identified approximately half of those offenders that we have found with knives in their possession are juveniles … they are probably equally represented with the adults”.
“Those operations occur in and around our transport hubs, they occur at safe night precincts and certainly juveniles are a part of that.”
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