How girl gangs are wreaking havoc in Melbourne’s southeast
Girls as young as 14 are joining violent street gangs and committing terrifying robberies. Known as Eastside Gang Members and Pretty Bitches Only, the thugs use social media to plan their attacks.
Leader
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Violent female youth gangs with members as young as 14 are wreaking havoc across Melbourne’s southeast, with street brawls, liquor shop thefts and snatch-and-grab robberies.
Youth gang insiders have also told the Leader of two prominent female gangs -the Eastside Gang Members (EGM) and Pretty Bitches Only (PBO) – with members under 18 who run amok in Melbourne’s southeast.
In March the Herald Sun revealed girl gangs were “swarming” pedestrians to steal new mobile phones in a terrifying new Melbourne crime wave, targeting people in quiet lanes and subways near train stations and bus stops in daytime.
Now the Leader has identified a new wave of violent young women who are using social media including Instagram and Snapchat to organise school brawls, plan thefts of electronic goods and take part in opportunistic crimes.
In one shocking video two girls are seen throwing punches at each other, with other girls joining in and other filming the fight, at Halpin Way in Dandenong.
In the past year, criminal youths have also been linked to liquor shop thefts and snatch-and-grab robberies at popular electronics stores.
A mother from Melbourne’s southeast, whose 16-year-old son was threatened by a female youth gang in Dandenong, said her family was left “terrified” after the ordeal.
“We were sent a barrage of abusive messages, with one of the girls saying they were going to smash my whole house up and hurt my family and that they would come when we least expect it,” the shocked mother said.
“These kids are as young as 14. It’s just so scary.
“What started out as a fight between two teenagers completely spiralled out of control, we were harassed for months.”
The mother said she had spotted the female teen gangs at shopping centres.
“They hang out, they steal alcohol, cosmetics and headphones they have no fear of police, they even spit on them.”
A JB Hi-Fi employee, who has asked not to be identified, has told the Leader how young teenage girls continue to swarm stores and steal electronic goods.
“They will mostly come in pairs and steal the hot ticket items including headphones, bluetooth speakers – they have no shame, it’s so brazen,” the employee said.
Superintendent Paul Hollowood said the most recent crime statistics data showed a slight increase in the number of alleged youth offender incidents across the state involving teenage girls aged between 10-19.
“Anecdotally, police in the Casey, Cardinia and Greater Dandenong Police Service areas have not seen an increase in incidents involving young women fighting. We are more commonly seeing them involved in offences such as street robberies,” Supt Hollowood said.
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He said police regularly patrolled shopping complexes in the southeast.
“This involves uniform and plain clothes police officers patrolling the area on foot and in vehicles at all times of the day and night.
“Since Operation Tidal commenced in April last year, police have made more than 1000 arrests.”
Swinburne University criminology expert Associate Professor James Roffee said female gang members could be searching for purpose and facing difficult home lives.
“When they’re bragging about crimes on social media, they feel that they become heroic to others, especially when they’re getting all the likes and they get the attention they may be seeking,” he said.