NSW bail system farce as criminals roam unchecked
The NSW bail system is in the grips of a farcical scandal, with the state government refusing to ban private ankle bracelet providers as police desperately try to account for more than 20 accused criminals who have potentially been roaming unchecked.
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The NSW bail system is in the grips of a farcical scandal, with the state government refusing to ban private ankle bracelet providers as police desperately try to account for more than 20 accused criminals who have potentially been roaming unchecked for months.
An investigation by The Daily Telegraph last week revealed private monitoring firm Bail Safe had collapsed without informing authorities in NSW and Victoria, leaving individuals, regarded by the courts as so dangerous they require 24/7 tracking, wearing useless devices.The situation has led the state’s police union to call on the Minns government to put all bail monitoring under Corrective Services NSW.
Attorney General Michael Daley has refused to follow the lead of his Victorian counterpart and ban private bail providers following the dangerous revelations of BailSafe’s demise, Police Association of NSW president Kevin Morton said
“Police don’t have time, nor the resources, to be hunting down unmonitored offenders, for a failed private company,” Mr Morton said.
“Corrective Services should be in charge of monitoring offenders. They are the experts (and) should immediately be given the resources and powers to do this job.”
Corrective Services are currently responsible for monitoring individuals on parole and serious domestic violence offenders - an initiative introduced last year by the Minns government.
The head of the Public Services Association, which looks after Corrective Services staff, said they would be open to the responsibility of looking after those with ankle monitoring bracelets out on bail - of which there are currently 130 in NSW.
“We would be happy to raise it with the government, because we’ve always said we think that Corrections could play a greater role in this space,” PSA general secretary Stewart Little said.
Despite BailSafe’s shutdown only being confirmed last week, multiple sources said they believe it may have been out of business since as far back as November.
Mr Daley would not comment on whether the state government had yet worked out how long BailSafe had been out of operation before they became aware.
Instead he said the list of more than 20 names of defendants out on bail with BailSafe devices had been provided to NSW Police.
In a statement, NSW Police said “assessments” and “necessary compliance checks” for each individual would be carried out, and anyone found to have breached their bail would be “put back before the courts”.
While The Daily Telegraph has tried unsuccessfully multiple times to contact BailSafe founder Jackson Oppy, the ABC has reported Mr Oppy told them he disputed that BailSafe was monitoring anybody when he shut the company down.
Kamal El Jamal last week had his BailSafe monitoring condition continued for one extra night by the NSW District Court before pleading guilty to shooting his wife, alongside the added condition that police could check on him “as many times overnight as they wished” at his home address to ensure he was there.
Another defendant who faced court last week had their BailSafe monitoring condition removed, with nothing further added.
A third individual, who was previously being monitored by BailSafe, last month went to court to change his company to another private provider.
Accused drug importer Hussein Chamas was another wearer of a BailSafe ankle monitor before ultimately running from a Central Coast rehab facility and attempting to flee Australia, only to be caught onboard a yacht off the coast of the Northern Territory and returned to custody.
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Originally published as NSW bail system farce as criminals roam unchecked
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