Youth crime Qld: Victims of some of state’s worst crimes to march on parliament demanding action
Hours after the Premier snubbed a rally, it has emerged the husband of Emma Lovell was dragged into a secret one-on-one under false pretences.
Police & Courts
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In a bizarre twist, the husband of Emma Lovell – the North Lakes mother who was stabbed to death on Boxing Day last year – has been dragged into a secret meeting with Annastacia Palaszczuk after victims of crime who marched on Parliament House had been snubbed by her.
While the main meeting with Police Minister Mark Ryan, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll and Youth Justice Minister Dianne Farmer was under way, Lee Lovell says his local MP, Chris Whiting, whisked him away to meet the Premier out of the blue.
Mr Lovell said he was under the impression he was going to meet his lawyer.
The Premier on Wednesday evening said she was under the impression Mr Whiting had made clear to Mr Lovell why he was being taken away from the meeting. Mr Whiting has since apologised to Mr Lovell.
Victims of some of the state’s most shocking juvenile crimes had marched on Parliament House to demand immediate action to curb Queensland’s exploding youth crime crisis, but failed to secure a much-called-for meeting with Ms Palaszczuk.
Hundreds of victims of crime and their supporters gathered in the Botanic Gardens, some brandishing signs saying “locked us down, now lock them up” and “zero tolerance on youth crime’’.
Outside Parliament House, they demanded to meet with the Premier, chanting “Annastacia, we want to meet with you” and “help us Anna, help us now”.
The Premier, however, failed to show, with Police Minister Mark Ryan stepping out to speak in her place.
When asked multiple times why the Premier wasn’t there Mr Ryan said she meets with victims “all the time”, and that the responsible ministers were there.
“I understand the premier meets with victims all the time and she often has private meetings with people,” Mr Ryan said.
“The key thing was the responsible ministers were at the meeting, the police commissioner was there, the director general of youth justice was there.
“There was a strong willingness to hear from them and a general desire to take their concerns on board.”
A spokesman from the Premier’s office insisted Ms Palaszczuk did meet with a victim of crime for 30 minutes at Parliament House today.
Mr Lovell said he was surprised the meeting was happening but he did feel heard by the Premier once he had the chat.
“I was led to believe I was meeting someone else actually but as we were walking in the room I was told I was going to be meeting her instead,” he said.
“It was a surprise for the rest of the group not to be there and talk about our issues, I suppose.
“It would have been nice to have everyone else there too, for them to put their views across as well. And not just me.”
In the first meeting Mr Lovell was taken away from his friend who he had asked to be in the meeting with.
“She asked me a lot of questions about how we were doing and the adjustment we’re making,” he said.
“I just told the truth about how we were dealing with some of my frustrations with certain laws at the moment and you know, the amount of people that keep getting out on bail constantly all the time.”
Mr Lovell said he didn’t want it to be all about himself.
“She seemed like a genuine and honest person,” he said.
Voice for Victims founder Ben Cannon said he was disappointed the separate meeting was made.
“I was mostly disappointed to find out at the end that she had time,” he said.
“So it wasn’t an issue of availability, it was an issue of access and avoidance.
“As a leader, we’ve continued to ask for her to take some leadership in this.
“Today was an absolute embarrassment as far as I’m concerned for a leader to take a political handshaking opportunity out of something that is so personal and important to the people of Queensland.”
Ms Palaszczuk has since reached out to Mr Cannon offering to meet with him.
When asked if he thought the Premier didn’t need to attend, Mr Ryan said, “we are a team and the team members who are in the criminal justice portfolio were there”.
Mr Ryan said it was a very honest, raw and frank meeting.
“They put a lot of things on the table and obviously we will explore all that,” he said.
“We’ve always said we are open to ideas, we always said we are open to suggestions.
“There was a lot put on the table but I am extremely grateful for their time and contribution.
“The key message is how can we support victims better, how can we give earlier support to victims and ultimately how do we avoid people becoming victims in the first place.”
Prior to the meeting, Voice for Victims organiser Ben Cannon said they would put some clear recommendations forward to the government.
“At 12pm today, Annastacia has sent her police minister once again to answer questions on the safety of our community,” he said
“We are going to put some clear recommendations that are well thought out and considered.”
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, who also was in the meeting, said the meeting was excellent.
“We are talking about an insightful group of people that have been affected by crime, that have really researched the issues and are asking some good questions,” she said.
Ms Carroll said the takeaways were first and foremost it’s about the victim, the public and the community they serve.
Despite the government’s pledge to rein in the soaring rates of youth crime, Queensland has experienced a horror run of fatalities with eight people allegedly dying at the hands of juveniles in the first eight months this year – one person a month on average.
Among those joining the rally will be Michelle Liddle, whose 15-year-old son Angus Beaumont died in 2020 allegedly at the hands of two juvenile offenders.
Ms Liddle described the previous government action including a 10-point plan to address youth crime as “smoke and mirrors” and “lacking guts”.
“Not one of those changes are hugely effective or going to make a difference,” she said.
“The Premier has been trying to blame the judges and I think, you put them there, you give them the legislation they have to work with … so of course they’re going to enact the law as it’s written.
“It’s just her trying to pass the buck.”
Emma Lovell’s husband, Lee Lovell said he came to the meeting with his kids to try and make some changes.
“We are trying to get the government to listen. What they are doing is not good enough,” he said.
“The rules aren’t enough and they need to be changed and the people and the wider community aren’t going to stand for how things are going.”
Mr Lovell said victims needed more of a voice.
“The way offenders seem to have a lot of things thrown at them like social workers, legal teams, but when it comes to victims where’s the social workers for victims?” he said.
“Where’s the financial assistance when people get their houses broken into and garages smashed opened. Where’s the assistance for that.”
Russell and Ann Field have also thrown their support behind the rally organised by the group Voice for Victims.
The couple lost their son Mathew and his fiancee Kate Leadbetter who was pregnant with their unborn son named Miles when they were stuck and killed by a drunk and high juvenile driving a stolen car in 2021.
“It’s getting to a point now that it’s part of the norm for someone to be killed by a youth – that shouldn’t be normal,” he said.
“If everybody who has been affected by juvenile crime came together, you’d fill Lang Park 10 times, how many people will it take for them to act?
“At some point in time they need to listen to the people who put them in power and stop taking us for fools.”
The repeat child offender who killed Matt, Kate and Miles had previously been convicted of at least 100 offences and had more than 20 convictions for car theft.
“How was he still out on the street after being convicted of stealing more than 20 cars, it’s just nuts,” Mr Field said.
“And for the government to say we have toughest youth crime laws in the country – well if they’re the toughest laws that let people drive around time and time again in a stolen car, well I’d hate to see what weaker laws are like.
“If this person was taken off the street after the first, second or even 20th conviction, Matt, Kate and Miles would still be alive today.”
Mr Field said his family was devastated when another juvenile offender in a stolen car allegedly claimed the lives of three others in a horror crash at Maryborough earlier this year.
“That should not have happened and the premier and law-makers must have blood on their hands for that and every other individual who has been killed by a juvenile in a stolen car by not putting these individuals away and letting them out time and time again,” he said.
“They say it’s a complex issue and it is but there are certainly some things that can be done and should have been done since our incident that should have and could have been happened that may have saved lives.
“The whole system needs reviewing and overhauled in general as far as I see it.”
Just after 12pm Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, Police Minister Mark Ryan and Minister for Youth Justice Di Farmer will meet with a selected group of victims wanting change.
After 1pm, it is expected Ms Carroll and Mr Ryan will address the media to discuss the outcomes of the media. The victims of crime will also address the media.
Victims from all across the state have gathered to share their stories and ask for victims to be involved in the process.
Protester Diana, said she was broken into while she was in the house sleeping.
“I realised somebody was in the house, and my first thought was ‘this is the end for me’ and then the next thing I know – there was a mobile torch in my face,” she said.
“When he saw I woke up, he left and then I walked through the house and nobody was there.
“I turned around and he was near the back door. I just screamed and him and told him to get out but he was just looking for the keys.”
Diana said it was an experience that traumatised her. She said she came to the rally as she would have liked to be able to give her statement to the magistrate and be a bit more involved in the process.
Indiana Clayton, 14, has gotten up in front of a crowd to “cry for help” about her future.
“There are girls my age who can’t even catch a bus or go out with her friends because they’re scared of what can happen,” she said.
“Our community deserves to go to sleep at night and not have to worry about whether their kids are safe or their belongings are okay.
“I’ve watched my brother come down in the middle of the night to check our doors for a second time because he is worried something may happen.
“Children are losing their parents and parents are burying their kids, we deserve better.”
Brisbane man Ben Cannon, who founded Voice for Victims which organised Wednesday’s march, began campaigning for better support for victims of youth crime after witnessing the horrific consequences first-hand in 2021.
After hearing bloodcurdling screams, he ran next door to the home of his neighbour and Wallabies great Toutai Kefu to interrupt a violent home invasion allegedly perpetrated by four juveniles whose cases are still progressing through the courts.
“The mayhem and carnage caused in such short time was life changing for me,” Mr Cannon said.
In the wake of the attack, Mr Cannon founded the Voice for Victims group which has campaigned for urgent action on youth crime and better support for victims.
The group will lead the rally from the Edwards Street gate of the Botanic Gardens to parliament from 10am calling on politicians to take immediate action on youth crime.
Among the crowd will be Lee Lovell, whose wife Emma was allegedly killed by two juvenile intruders at their North Lakes home on Boxing Day.
“I’m a partner in a real estate business, I sell houses and I call auctions, I didn’t ask for this,” Mr Cannon said.
“What we asked for two years ago is we asked for the government to stand up and do something, we were hurting.
“We asked for change, we asked for this to stop so people didn’t get hurt or die and since then over 20 lives have been lost through juvenile crime – what’s the cost got to be for the premier to say maybe we haven’t got it right?”
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