Violent teens who robbed IMP Jewellery in Toorak escape jail sentence
VICTIMS of terrifying jewellery store robberies are fed up with Victoria’s justice system after three teenagers who stole $100,000 worth of jewellery dodged jail.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE VICTIM of a terrifying armed jewellery store robbery says the justice system is “completely out of touch” after three teenage offenders were spared jail for snatching $100,000 worth of jewellery.
IMP Jewellery’s owner, Tony Fialides, told the Herald Sun he was disappointed in the system.
“I don’t see us as having a justice system. We just have a legal system.”
The judge rejected prosecution arguments for a custodial sentence, imposing 18-month youth supervision orders on the trio, who pleaded guilty.
The Toorak IMP Jewellery store’s manager was allegedly pistol-whipped during the January 14 robbery, and the stolen jewellery has not been recovered.
Victoria has suffered a wave of similar violent crimes, and the industry now fears the Children’s Court sentence might embolden gangs of young bandits to strike again.
The maximum sentence available in the Children’s Court is three years’ youth detention. In an adult court, the maximum penalty for armed robbery is 25 years in prison.
The decision has also angered the jewellery industry and Victoria’s police union.
The Jewellers Association of Australia’s Victorian spokesman, Michael Oboler, said: “The trade feels the judiciary is letting the side down with too many lenient sentences.”
Sentencing the trio, the judge said that in dealing with young offenders, rehabilitation was “paramount”.
She said she took into consideration their remorse, youth, guilty plea, and lack of prior offending.
But Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said: “It is a shame that these young men did not show their victims the same mercy that the Children’s Court has shown them, given their light sentences.”
CONCERNED JEWELLERS BAND TOGETHER
Sgt Gatt said: “Our members have worked tirelessly to identify and bring these people to court, but ultimately it is up to the courts to see that justice is done.
“Police pleas for appropriate sentencing outcomes represent the broad community interest that should be given greater regard.”
Mr Oboler said: “The perception is the sentences applied are not in accordance with what the community or jewellers would like.”
About 60 jewellers met police at Malvern Town Hall on Tuesday to discuss the wave of robberies.
Many have been left counting the cost of extra security measures, and some have been left emotionally scarred by robberies.
The trio, two of them brothers aged 16 and 17 at the time of the raid, are among the first teenagers to have been sentenced over a spate of armed raids on Melbourne jewellery stores.
The supervision order requires that they take part in school and sport activities.
A fourth teen, accused of entering the IMP Jewellery store with a gun, indicated at a hearing on Wednesday that he would also plead guilty.
A fifth, 16, who stayed in the car during the robbery, has pleaded guilty to armed robbery and dangerous driving while pursued by police, and will be sentenced later.
Two IMP staff were terrified when the four teenagers allegedly stormed in about 12.40pm on January 14, smashing glass cabinets and scooping up valuables.
The manager alleges that when he asked that they leave, one teen hit him in the head with a pistol and shouted: “I’ll shoot you, I’ll shoot you.”
The elder brother, in a letter to his victims, said the holdup had been a “dumb decision”.
The brothers are due back in court in September for the judge to check their progress.