Victims of crime, legal experts say Jacinta Allan’s ‘toughest bail laws’ are failing
Victims of crime and one of the state’s top lawyers say Jacinta Allan’s self-proclaimed “toughest bail laws in Australia” are failing, after a trio charged over the vicious Luna Park machete attack were freed despite police vehemently opposing their release.
Victims of crime and legal experts say Jacinta Allan’s self-proclaimed “toughest bail laws in Australia” are failing, demanding urgent action in a bid to drive down crime.
Ms Allan on Thursday dodged questions after another controversial bail decision, where three men charged over a vicious machete attack at Luna Park were freed, despite police vehemently opposing their release.
The magistrate conceded that Victorians “feel unsafe and scared to go out” but bailed them anyway.
Both the Premier and her deputy, Ben Carroll, on Thursday flagged further changes to strengthen bail laws, but frustrated government MPs remain divided about what to do next following a string of shocking crimes allegedly committed by people out on bail.
Top lawyer Paul Hayes KC has said the current legislation had a major loophole that must be closed, while outspoken and distressed crime victim Adele Andrews said Ms Allan’s bail changes were ineffective.
Ms Andrews’ Black Rock home was invaded by machete-wielding teenagers who were accused of stealing her cars while she and her young children slept inside.
“Nothing is changing. It’s the same shit every day,” she told the Herald Sun.
“The level of violence and complete disregard for acceptable behaviour in society, it’s completely gone to the dogs.”
Ms Andrews said the Premier’s claim the CBD was “safe” after a spate of violence was alarming.
“She’s just delusional,” Ms Andrews said of Ms Allan.
“To be coming out and saying that Melbourne is safe, when clearly nobody feels safe, is probably one of the most nonsensical comments she could have made.
“It doesn’t give us any reassurance that she takes any sort of seriousness to what is going on in this state.
“She’s really discredited herself.”
The Herald Sun revealed earlier this month that the official guide for judges and magistrates, updated in the wake of the Victorian government’s crackdown on crime, still encourages the judiciary to release accused youth criminals on bail wherever possible.
The updated manual also instructs judicial officers that granting bail may ultimately be in the best interests of the community in the long-term.
Mr Hayes said the government had “left the door ajar” to that interpretation because of clumsy legislation.
Mr Hayes said provisions in the Bail Act, in relation to children being jailed and their ongoing risk of incarceration because of that, were open to wide interpretation and needed to be closed by the Allan government if they wanted to be genuinely tough on bail for young offenders.
TOLL OF VICTORIA’S BAIL FAILS REVEALED
“If there is dissatisfaction in the community the government can change the laws and make it harder for the courts to interpret the laws in the way in which they’re currently being interpreted,” he said.
“So they need to do better with their amendments to the Bail Act, because they have not produced the outcome that the government has said that it would like.”
In bailing the men over Sunday night’s Luna Park incident – including 19-year-old Abbas Mazrawi who is suspected of two other machete attacks this month – magistrate Felicity Broughton admitted “young men acting and behaving like this is a high risk to the community”.
Speaking at Sunshine Hospital on Thursday morning Ms Allan refused to condemn the Magistrate’s decision, saying only that she expected court decisions to reflect community expectations.
But she didn’t rule out further changes to bail laws if they’re found to be necessary.
“I don’t think it would be responsible of any government to ever bring the shutters down on any measure that can improve community safety and I’ve made this commitment we are always looking at new ways – at new programs, at new responses to deal with what we are seeing is a changed repeat pattern of behaviour,” she said.
Ministers have told the Herald Sun they believe Ms Allan would like to go further in tightening bail in a bid to end the current crime wave in Melbourne but she wouldn’t get the necessary legislation through her cabinet.
“Many just want the issue off the front page of the papers, and they believe that means locking people up for longer,” one senior Labor figure said.
Some MPs are privately lobbying for major sentencing reform, while government sources said that was not yet being formally canvassed.
Instead the government is looking at cracking down on penalties and other consequences for perpetrators of youth crime which could include rehabilitation and education pathways.
But victims of the horrific crime wave said they were yet to notice any real changes to the way teenage offenders are being processed by the courts.
On Thursday Ms Allan refused to respond to the suggestion she wanted to toughen bail laws.
“I’m not going to respond to anecdotes that aren’t on the public record,” she said.
“The parliament has made it absolutely clear. We have made it clear to every bail decision maker across the justice system, that community safety must come first. We’ve removed that principle of remand for being the last resort for young people.
So this is an expectation that the parliament has set.”
Mr Carroll on Thursday doubled down on his calls for a zero tolerance approach to young offenders, saying tougher consequences were needed to curb rising crime rates.
And while careful not to criticise the courts he told 3AW more needed to be done to ensure judicial decisions were meeting community expectations.
He also hinted that stronger sentences should come into play calling for “sentencing that actually gives the opportunity to give these young kids time.”
“It was put to me by an expert, (kids) are like a jigsaw puzzle. They not only need to be put back together, they’ve got missing pieces.
“You don’t do that in a matter of weeks. You need proper time, particularly months, to really put these kids back together, but they’ve got to want to be put back together as well.”
The Labor caucus is divided over how best to tackle the scourge, with some demanding a crackdown on youth sentencing to give young criminals more real consequences and better rehabilitation prospects while in custodial sentences.
Others are arguing that keeping kids out of jail is the best way to avoid them becoming entrenched in the criminal justice system.
“We need to have a zero tolerance approach to violent crime, in particular knife crime,” Mr Carroll said on Thursday.
“And then, when it comes to the sentencing, sentencing that works, sentencing that gives you opportunity for rehabilitation.”
Mr Carroll said he had looked to New York and Glasgow, both cities that tackled problematic youth crime, when considering what could be done locally.
In Glasgow authorities emphasise early and effective intervention to prevent future offending, diversion from prosecution for low-level crimes, community alternatives to custody, and support for reintegration after being in custody.
Laws passed in Scotland last year replaced punitive responses with care and welfare based approaches, including stronger regulation of secure care services, clearer rights for victims of youth offending, and more flexibility to support young people.
In New York more than $500m has been invested to support at-risk youth by providing job opportunities, educational pathways, and counselling services, combat gun violence and support survivors of domestic violence and address systemic issues contributing to youth involvement in crime.
Mr Carroll said young Victorians would be given two opportunities, to pursue a “life of purpose” or face “swift justice and real consequences”.
Former chief commissioner Kel Glare said bail changes, despite showing an increase in remanded youths since taking effect, were not providing a strong enough disincentive to young thugs.
“The judges and magistrates really need to toughen up, they need to put community safety first,” he said.
“If that means some of these young violent criminals are looked up then so be it, it mightn’t do them any good but it will keep the community safe.”
A succession of bail decisions in recent weeks has seen serious accused offenders let loose back on the streets.
They include four teenagers who dumped a stolen BMW in Bourke St Mall after a wild chase through Melbourne, and a 15-year-old accused of five armed robberies, stealing cars and making threats to kill who was allowed out of jail to embark on a family trip to Europe.
Tourism minister Steve Dimopolous responded to criticisms of the bail laws and rocketing crime on Friday saying “ if you look at the quantum of what we’ve done there is no illusion that we have taken this seriously”.
“We understand this is the number one priority for the community, and it is for us. That’s why we’ve doubled down on the work we’ve done, and sometimes I think people forget the amount of work that has already been completed,” he said.
Mr Dimopolous dismissed the suggestion the Allan cabinet was divided and denied a potential spill was brewing behind the scene after Deputy premier Ben Carroll stepped out of line publicly on the crime issue..
“This premier is going to take us to the next election — she is a strong premier with the most experience of any of us,” he said.
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