Crisis talks to be held to combat raids on Melbourne jewellers

CRISIS talks will be held to combat a wave of terrifying raids on Melbourne jewellers, amid fears armed teenage gangs are acting on the orders of organised crime bosses.

A look inside the now empty imp jewellery in Toorak. Picture: David Crosling

• Toorak’s IMP Jewellery store targeted in armed robbery again
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• Machete, gun used in H & H Jewellery Elsternwick robbery
• Mastermind theory in violent Toorak jewellery store robbery

CRISIS talks will be held to combat a wave of terrifying raids on Melbourne jewellers, amid fears armed teenage gangs are acting on the orders of organised crime bosses.

Victoria Police and jewellery industry figures will meet next week in an attempt to head off the spate of alarming armed robberies that a two-time victim said was threatening to drive some operators out of the trade.

Tony Fialides, whose IMP Jewellery store in Toorak was robbed by gun-toting bandits on the weekend for the second time in less than three months, said Victoria was the only state in which jewellers were under siege.

Frightened staff hid as a Canterbury shop was raided last week, while jewellers in Lalor and Elsternwick have also been robbed already this year.

One high-end jewellery trader told the Herald Sun: “There would have to be somebody organising these robberies ... these kids wouldn’t have been able to do it on their own.

“It is highly likely the jewellery is ending up with more organised people who collect it.”

The weekend’s brazen theft comes as the crime wave gripping Victoria drags into 2017, causing an ongoing political headache for the Andrews Government as it also struggles to fix the youth justice system with more riots at the Malmsbury and Parkville detention centres.

The Jewellers Association of Australia said the security seminar had been called for January 24 because of a “dramatic increase in violent attacks on jewellery stores”.

About 1pm on Saturday, four men burst into the IMP store, hitting manager Stevan Morrow with a firearm.

The gang, all of African appearance, fled in a stolen black Honda Civic. A police chase was called off 8km away in Punt Rd, Richmond, because of danger to the public.

Police later found the car abandoned in Collingwood.

On October 25, three men robbed the same store, pointing a gun at Mr Morrow’s face.

“This is a disgrace,” Mr Fialides said. “Youth crime is out of control. I’ve had a number of calls from people from interstate, asking what’s going on in Melbourne.”

Teens are suspects in most of the past year’s jewellery store hold-ups. But it is feared that organised crime figures, who have the networks to dispose of such valuable booty, are commissioning some of the raids and using teens because they will receive more lenient penalties if caught.

“You can’t take this stuff down to Cash Converters,” one industry source said. “You really need to be in the know to move it.”

IMP Jewellery has a unique inscription on its products, making it difficult for thieves to sell the items.

A trader told the Herald Sun: “(The stolen goods) would be easy to trace back to the jewellery store so it is likely they would have been melted down for gold.”

The use of children by organised crime figures follows a youth crime pattern of recent years in which teen offenders, seemingly unafraid of penalties, have become involved in dangerous high-level crime.

They have committed major pokie venue armed robberies, tobacco stick-ups, ram-raids and widespread car thefts for their masters.

Some of the jewel robberies endangered the public with terrifying getaway driving through the suburbs.

Some of the vehicles used are believed to have been stolen in earlier home invasions.

Officers from the armed crime squad have made arrests over many of the jewellery robberies committed in the past year.

But the offending has continued with police having publicly stated that one gang had viewed the children’s court system as an easy option.

Opposition police spokesman Ed O’Donohue said Premier Daniel Andrews promised to smash the gangs in the wake of the Moomba riots.

“That certainly hasn’t happened ... These are brazen and shocking attacks” Mr O’Donohue said.

Police Minister Lisa Neville said: “Victoria Police is taking this crime seriously and is working to catch these criminals and ensure they face the full force of the law.”

BANDITS OUT OF CONTROL

January 14: Gang beats staff member with gun at IMP Jewellers before escaping with valuables taken from smashed display cases.

January 12: Staff hide in back room as bandits steal $100,000 in jewellery from Canterbury shop.

January 4: Bandits, one with a pistol, make $200,000 raid on Lalor jewellery store.

January 4: Jewellery store in Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick, hit by bandits armed with gun and machete in $150,000 heist.

December 25: $50,000 in goods stolen from a Sunshine jewellery store.

November 24: Masked gunman robs Ormond jewellers. Staff member assaulted.

November 14: Costume jewellery stolen in robbery on Lalor store.

October 24: Gang raid on IMP Jewellers in Toorak nets $200,000 in property.

September 5: Jewellery valued at $60,000 stolen from Elsternwick store by masked bandits.

September 5: Hooded men with handgun hold up Elsternwick jewellery shop.

July 7: Armed bandits strike at jewellers in CBD and Coburg, stealing a combined $200,000.

July 2: Gun pointed at jewellery store worker during robbery at Reservoir.