Qld youth crime crisis: Ascot residents call for tougher consequences

Residents of a ritzy Queensland suburb claim they are under attack amid the youth crime crisis.

A cafe owner and residents of Ascot have called for tougher consequences for offenders as the affluent Brisbane suburb continues to be targeted by criminals.

One of Brisbane’s most expensive suburbs is a big target for criminals according to Ascot residents, with 440 offences taking place in the last year.

It has led to residents of the suburb to take the matter of security into their own hands, paying for private security patrols to take place throughout the streets.

However, that hasn’t put a complete stop to instances of crime in one the suburb, which has a median house price of $2.315m.

Tribe Coffee Co. owner Mark Hardingham said his business has endured six instances of break-ins over the last year, including an armed holdup where a female employee was threatened by offenders with guns in July of last year.

The most recent crime incident took place two months ago, where an alleged offender broke into his freezer.

The constant barrage of crime has been a great source of frustration for Mr Hardingham.

“We had an armed holdup involving one of the girls, she never came back, understandably she was pretty shaken up, so she’s moved on,” he said.

“We’re constantly having people come through the night, having a look, and trying to get in.

“We’re constantly having to get new equipment, we’ve upgraded all the cameras, all the CCTV, there’s duress alarms for the guys in the pod as well.”

Mr Hardingham said he would like to see more action from the state government and have tougher consequences for offenders.

A young offender was captured on CCTV breaking into a fridge at Ascot cafe Tribe Coffee Co. Picture: Supplied

“They need to have tougher consequences for the offenders, they just get a slap on the wrist,” he said.

“The fact that there’s no consequence there, there’s nothing deterring them from doing it again, because they know that they can get away with it.

“They get to get a slap on the wrist and they back out again, doing it all over again, there needs to be tougher measures taken against the offenders.

“Nothing gets done.

“When nothing gets done, it’s demoralising because you lose good staff because they don’t feel safe.”

Tribe Coffee Co. owner Mark Hardingham said his business has endured six instances of break-ins over the last year

Mr Hardingham said Ascot has been heavily targeted during the youth crime crisis.

“We’re a big target, it’s not just businesses, it’s homes, it’s everybody,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have enough toes and fingers to count the amount of customers, the amount of people that come through my business that have been directly affected.

“There’s always cars being broken into, houses being broken into, cars stolen.

“It’s unfortunately a very common trend in this area.”

Tribe Coffee Co. cafe at Ascot. Picture: Richard Walker

Ascot resident Bev Smith had a car stolen from her property last year.

“We had some intruders enter our house, steal the car keys and take our car in what we think was the early hours of the morning,” she said.

“We were in disbelief, the fact that somebody had been inside our home was quite uncomfortable.

“Nine months later our car was finally returned fully fixed.

“You can’t just assume that it’s never going to happen to you because it can happen to anyone, no matter where you live, who you are, or what you have.”

Ms Smith said she would like to see more action taken against repeat offenders and more concrete measures than restorative justice meetings.

“I think we’ve got to go back to the root cause of what’s causing it, but then also make sure that these repeat offenders are dealt with appropriately,” she said.

“We were asked to attend a restorative justice meeting, which we refused to do.

“A restorative justice meeting to explain to people who know where you live, how you made them feel doesn’t really bode well for the victims of crime.

“It’s pretty soft.”