More home invasions as Melbourne’s youth gang crisis worsens

A man in his 20s was assaulted in his home while a 77-year-old woman was robbed as the city’s youth gang crisis intensifies.

Melbourne’s youth gang crisis is show no signs of improving after another two home invasions.

A man has been sent to hospital following a violent robbery in Melbourne’s west allegedly conducted by two people of African appearance.

Two men allegedly entered the Footscray home before 11pm last night with some reports saying they had knifes and baseball bats.

“They were disrupted by the sole occupant, a man in his 20s, who was subsequently assaulted with an unknown item,” a police spokeswoman said.

“The pair then fled. It is not yet known whether anything was taken from the home.

“Both youths are perceived as African in appearance.

“No arrests have been made at this time and the investigation is ongoing,” Victoria Police said.

There was another aggravated robbery in Caulfield South after midnight where a 77-year-old woman alone in the house woke up to find a man ransacking her home.

The woman has no injuries.

Both robberies were reported by 3AW’s Neil Mitchell before police issued statements.

The veteran broadcaster wrote in The Australian today that the had come across two previous cases where he reported burglaries despite police releasing no public information on the incidents.

“Neither case was reported by the police media office until I asked questions. They claimed no operational reason for that,” he wrote.

“So was it an attempt to manipulate information to calm the public? Was it ignoring reality for the sake of spin?”

Last night’s robberies follow a string of home invasions over the past couple of weeks in Melbourne as the city’s youth gang crisis worsens.

The Australian’s Newspoll today shows two-thirds of Victorians believe the state’s Labor government needs to more to tackle violent crime ahead of November’s election.