More than 130 Victorians injured by youth offenders crashing cars stolen aggravated burglaries

More than 130 bystanders have been injured by youth offenders crashing cars stolen in aggravated burglaries — and the toll on innocent Victorians is only worsening. Special Investigation into Victoria’s youth crime epidemic.

Youth offenders have injured 137 people in six years by crashing cars they have stolen in aggravated burglaries.

The casualty rate is climbing alarmingly with 53 people hurt last year, an 82 per cent increase on the 29 in the previous 12 months.

The injury figures only relate to cars stolen in the kind of overnight aggravated burglaries which have become a scourge in Melbourne’s suburbs in the past decade.

The startling figures come a day after the Herald Sun revealed one of the state’s worst youth offenders had 388 charges struck out because of his age, with the 14-year-old going on to commit six burglaries in six hours during another spree.

It is understood the government will next week move to introduce a youth justice bill to parliament which will further protect young offenders, including a controversial plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.

Victoria Police figures show that 38 of the 53 hurt last year were innocent parties unconnected to stolen vehicles.

They were pedestrians, drivers or passengers from other vehicles or, in rare cases, police.

The other 15 were those on board cars and SUVs stolen in break-ins.

Forty others who were in crashes involving the stolen cars escaped unhurt.

Youth offenders are injured 137 people by crashing cars they have stolen in aggravated burglaries. Picture: Supplied

The boom in the annual total over recent years is shown by the number being only 11 in 2018.

It is a rising trend also reflected in the rate of the collisions generating the injuries.

In 2018, there were only five smashes of this type but that had risen to 26 by last year.

The total for the six years was 75, meaning almost two people were hurt on average in each crash.

There were 11 collisions with police involvement, eight of them being cases in which police vehicles were rammed.

Some police believe it is a miracle that more people have not been killed or seriously injured as teens with no driving experience rocket around the suburbs in high-powered vehicles they have just stolen.

Victoria Police has been running a around-the-clock operation called Trinity for the past year with the aim of stemming the rate of aggravated burglaries and resultant high-risk driving.

Police say offenders are driven by a desire for status and notoriety. Picture: Victoria Police

Trinity’s deputy commander, acting Supt Andrew McKee, said stealing cars and driving them at high speed was no game.

Supt McKee said getting attention online was the objective for the offenders.

“This behaviour is driven by a desire for status and notoriety, which often plays out by boasting about their exploits on social media,” he said.

“These offenders are often travelling at high speeds, with multiple people on-board, and it’s not uncommon for this to be streamed or posted on social media sites. Purely and simply, this is a recipe for disaster.”

Superintendent McKee said police had a range of methods available to safely manage these situations with maintaining community safety and limiting collisions the priority.

“Police hold immense concerns around young children with little to no formal driving experience behind the wheel of stolen vehicles on the roads,” he said.

Frontline officers say the level of road lawlessness from the youth offender is staggering.

They said they regularly travelled on freeways at upwards of 200 km/h and did not hesitate to use emergency lanes as escape routes if pursued.

Some had knowledge of police methodology and resourcing, which made the task of rounding them up even more onerous.

Ironically, the thieves may be at less risk than other road-users because of their fondness for luxury European vehicles with top safety features.

Following the Herald Sun’s youth crime investigation, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes conceded the government was concerned about a group of repeat young offenders who were committing violent crimes, including home invasions.

“This is a new type of offending for Victoria, for the nation – young people breaking into houses because frankly they want to steal car keys and steal cars,” she said.

“A decade ago, you could steal a car without keys. We know this is a pattern of offending that is very concerning to the community,” she said.

“It is terrifying having someone, regardless of their age, break into your home.”

But Ms Symes insisted Victoria had one of the lowest youth offending rates.