Lifted booze bans ‘fed weapons surge in Alice Springs’

There has been a spike in the share of Alice Springs Local Court criminal proceedings where weapons possession was listed as a charge.

The Alice Springs Local Court. There has been a near doubling in the share of criminal proceedings with weapons possession. Picture: Jason Walls

Lapsed alcohol bans in Alice Springs are behind a catastrophic uptick in the number of dangerous weapons present in town, the NT Police Association says, as data analysis reveals the share of weapons possession among criminal charges in the country town nearly doubled in January.

Exclusive analysis of the past seven years of court listings, conducted by The Australian, revealed weapons possession was cited as an alleged offence in 8 per cent of all criminal proceedings before the Alice Springs Local Court, compared with a rate between 3 and 5 per cent in each of the six years prior.

Breach of bail was cited in almost one in five listings in January this year, compared to values of about 10-15 per cent in each of the six years prior.

Northern Territory Police Association president Paul McCue said the increase in weapons detected was likely because of cessation of Stronger Future legis­lation and the “resulting increase in alcohol-fuelled harm, crime and violence due to lack of consultation and lack of planning by the NT government”.

He also attributed the increase in dangerous weaponry to disputes between families. “Since the establishment of Operation Drina, set up last November to deal specifically with an escalation in crime and anti-social behaviour in Alice Springs, there have been hundreds of additional arrests and prosecution files – over and above the usual number of prosecution files,” he said.

“Our members are telling us the increased detection of weapons is likely linked to feuding families in Alice Springs, as well as officers … conducting extensive, high visibility foot patrols.

“Weapons are widely defined in the law. It could be pouring a boiling hot cup of tea over a victim, or it could be knives, axes, mach­etes, or traditional weapons such as spears or nulla nullas.”

The Alice Springs Local Court does not hear cases exclusively limited to the local area and serves a wider region, but the data is indicative of trends in Alice Springs, given most of its cases originate from the general area.

The analysis is supported by anecdotal accounts.

 

People’s Alcohol Action ­Coalition spokesman John Boffa told The Australian in January that patients were presenting at hospitals with severe injuries. He blamed alcohol intoxication for the spike, brought on by the expiry of government-mandated bans in the middle of last year.

“What you see with severe intoxication is the severe end of ­assault,” he said at the time.

“So you’re seeing fractured limbs, stabbings, you know, machete injuries, axe injuries, those sorts of things being dealt with by the hospital.”

The federal and NT governments jumped to action following reporting of elevated crime in The Australian in January. Alcohol bans snapped back into place on Wednesday after the NT parliament passed urgent legislation.

Shane McMaster, president of the criminal law association of the NT, said alcohol was a “major contributing factor” behind the rise in weapons-related crimes.

“What I hear from practitioners on the ground … is that since July last year – the removal of those alcohol restrictions – they’ve noticed huge increases in all those indices in and around ­alcohol-related crime,” he said.

An Alice Springs criminal justice expert, who declined to be named, said the rise in alleged bail breaches could be “well explained” by the enhanced police presence in the area.

Additional reporting: Liam Mendes