14-year-old girl among thugs who terrorised Brighton residents in mass aggravated burglary

Teen thugs tried to run over Brighton residents while stealing cars, including an Audi and a Lexus belonging to high-profile defence barrister Dermot Dann.

High-profile defence barrister Dermot Dann has been caught up in the latest Brighton crime spree after thieves stole two cars from his property on Tuesday morning.

Mr Dann – whose clients include missing campers murderer Greg Lynn and former St Kilda footballer turned drug trafficker Sam Fisher – was asleep when a group of thugs pulled into his street in Brighton Beach about 6am.

The Herald Sun has been told that the group included at least five people, including a 14-year-old girl, who arrived in stolen cars.

The group tried to smash their way into several homes before breaking into an Audi SUV and Lexus SUV belonging to Mr Dann and his family.

The commotion woke other neighbours in at least six homes, who ran outside brandishing items from inside their houses in a bid to chase away the offenders, who they say tried to run them over during the ordeal.

Defence barrister Dermot Dann. Picture: David Geraghty

It is understood at least two other residents on the street were forced to jump out of the way of the cars belonging to Mr Dann that were deliberately speeding towards them with the thieves behind the wheel.

Police arrested the 14-year-old girl nearby but the other offenders fled on foot, leaving the residents too scared to speak publicly about the ordeal out of fear of potential follow-up attacks.

CCTV footage of one of the group members outside a Brighton home.

The group tried to smash their way into several homes.

Security footage of the people involved in the incident on Tuesday morning.

Multiple offenders fled on foot.

Bayside residents said they feared they were going to die when the gang of thugs tried to run them over during the incident.

No-one was injured during the incident.

Brighton MP James Newbury told the Herald Sun the community had been left shaken by Tuesday’s “mass attack”, with those involved fearing for their lives.

“One resident said when the cars started driving at (their) neighbours, (they) thought someone was going to die,” Mr Newbury said.

“The escalation in the scale and ferociousness of these crimes has left many of the victims knowing that it will only be a matter of time before more innocent people are killed.”

Brighton influencer Bec Judd echoed Mr Newbury’s concerns in an Instagram story on Tuesday afternoon.

Re-sharing a post by the MP, Ms Judd wrote: “These people are fighting back because (Jacinta Allan) has given them no choice. Protect thy neighbour”.

Influencer Bec Judd.

It is understood that the thieves drove to the area in several stolen cars before attempting to steal the Audi and Lexus.

They may have dumped one of their original vehicles on the street before speeding away with the two new stolen cars, as well as the others they arrived in.

Police found the stolen Audi dumped nearby on Lynch St soon after the attack.

The latest crime data shows that while overall crime rates in the Bayside area decreased in the last year, there were 773 car thefts during that period.

Bayside is one of the key areas targeted by police as part of Operation Trinity, a round-the-clock operation targeting youth crime across Melbourne’s eastern and southeastern suburbs.

Locals report feeling “unsafe” amid spate of similar incidents

Residents across the Bayside area have reported a string of similar incidents in recent weeks.

Trespassers and would-be thieves have targeted Hampton local Donna Vinden’s home at least three times.

About midnight on Tuesday night, a woman could be seen entering her driveway and inspecting her car.

Two weeks before that, a boy dressed in a black hoodie was captured on CCTV knocking on her door before quickly running away in what Ms Vinden believed was an attempt to work out whether anybody was inside her home before attempting to break in.

Last year, masked thieves broke into her car while it was parked in her driveway.

“It makes me feel really unsafe,” the single mother-of-two said.

“It is really, really creepy. I don’t look forward to night-time because of what’s happened.

“Thankfully, the kids’ bedrooms are at the back of the house.”

Meanwhile, another resident in Beaumaris reported a youth attempting to get into their property before being thrown off by sensor lights and security cameras trained on the front of the house.