NT business owners left frustrated and scared amid escalating crime

A small town speedway is searching for a permanent caretaker after ‘constant’ break-ins culminated in every single toilet being ‘smashed’. Warning: Graphic image

As Territorians’ collective call for action on crime grows louder, residents and business owners have shared their stories and the extraordinary steps they have taken to feel safe.

Many say their concern has increased since the alleged murder of bottleshop worker Declan Laverty but others say they have been victims of break-ins and crime too often to count.

They reveal the measures they have taken to try and stay safe and improvements to their businesses or homes.

These are their stories.

Small town speedway searching for permanent caretaker after ‘constant’ break-ins

Tennant Creek Speedway is searching for a permanent caretaker after “heartbreaking” damage was done to its key facilities.

The club has been forced to replace every toilet and wall in it’s ablution block after a break-in last week.

Tennant Creek Speedway president Bradley Shadforth said damage to its facilities had been ongoing in recent years and the club was now searching for someone to stay permanently at the property to prevent further damage.

“It’s almost every year we’ve got to be replacing things and fixing things,” Mr Shadforth said.

“(Last week’s damage) is probably the worst we’ve had, they’ve smashed every toilet.

“We can’t really afford to buy brand new things, it’s only a small club, we’re relying on sponsorships and things.

“We’re trying to find a caretaker so somebody is out there at all times to try and deter them a bit at least.”

Every toilet, alongside multiple walls, was smashed at Tennant Creek Speedway last week. Supplied: Tennant Creek Speedway.

Mr Shadforth said there had been an outpouring of community support to help repair the damage, with local businesses T&J and Barkly plumbing offering to repair walls and fix the plumbing, alongside members of the community attending a working bee on Sunday.

With the support, the club was hoping the toilet block would be prepared before upcoming race days in May.

“We’re mainly just heartbroken really, and a it’s lot of work we have to do for no reason.”

Last year, the speedway had to cancel meetings after a break-in caused about $10,000 worth of damage to the club’s canteen.

Cafe owner on the brink of selling up

One more instance as a victim of crime is all it will take for rural cafe owner Vamshi Velmula to pack it all up and sell his business.

The Humpty Doo local has been the sole worker at Hinnens Café for four years, but after having the glass of his business smashed in twice in six weeks, he’s had enough.

“I thought it was a safe place, Humpty Doo was a safe place when I moved here,” he said.

If something happened in the near future, rents are too high and I can’t afford to stay.”

Mr Velmula was first broken into in January, with $2000 worth of damage sustained after glass panels were smashed in.

Vamshi Velmula has already been broken into twice at his Humpty Doo cafe. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The second time was just last Saturday, and he was charged $800 to fix the broken glass.

Both times nothing from inside was taken, but he was forced to close and lose a day of income while he waited for forensic investigators.

Three years ago a similar incident happened, and Mr Hiffen said he was still waiting for police to find the alleged perpetrators.

“It’s been three years and they still couldn’t find them so I’m not really happy with that,” he said.

“We’re 100m from the police station but they’re not open at night time — Maybe that might help with it.”

He said the anxiety of not know whether he might walk into another crime scene every morning kept him up at night.

“Now I’ve actually started worrying every night before I go to bed,” he said.

Business owners left frustrated, scared amid crime crisis

As the Territory’s crime crisis continues to escalate, NewsXpress Leanyer owner Jason Barling worries for his employees whenever he is not on site.

That concern has only increased since Declan Laverty’s alleged murder.

“It’s always a major concern in the back of my mind that there’s potentially an incident that can occur at any random point in time that I’m not going to be around for to deal with,” Mr Barling said.

“I’m a guy, I’m a decent size and everything so it doesn’t faze me as much because I’m happy to deal with them but particularly for the girls, it’s not something that we should have to put up with.

“We should be able to go to work and not have to put up with these constant issues.”

As Territorians’ collective call for action on crime grows louder, residents and business owners have shared their stories and the extraordinary steps they have taken to feel safe.

Many say their concern has increased since the alleged murder of bottleshop worker Declan Laverty but others say they have been victims of break-ins and crime too often to count.

They reveal the measures they have taken to try and stay safe and improvements to their businesses or homes.

These are their stories.

Business owners left frustrated, scared amid crime crisis

As the Territory’s crime crisis continues to escalate, NewsXpress Leanyer owner Jason Barling worries for his employees whenever he is not on site.

That concern has only increased since Declan Laverty’s alleged murder.

“It’s always a major concern in the back of my mind that there’s potentially an incident that can occur at any random point in time that I’m not going to be around for to deal with,” Mr Barling said.

“I’m a guy, I’m a decent size and everything so it doesn’t faze me as much because I’m happy to deal with them but particularly for the girls, it’s not something that we should have to put up with.

“We should be able to go to work and not have to put up with these constant issues.”

NewsXpress Leanyer owner Jason Barling is concerned for the safety of his employees. Pictured: Sierra Haigh

Mr Barling also operates the Palmerston and Coolalinga NewsXpress stores, which have previously been targeted by alleged criminals.

“We had a smashed break in at our Coolalinga store a couple of months ago, so they did a couple of thousand dollars worth of damage there,” he said.

Mr Barling said he was frustrated with the NT government’s “lip service” in announcing new public safety measures.

“Anything they seem to do is not actually stepping in the right directions or resolving anything, it’s to deflect the attention away from the NT government,” he said.

“They are worse than a jellyfish, they have no spine at all.”

Rosebery 70-year-old left with fractured skull

Jennie Copley submitted photos of the injury to her husband's head after she says people broke into her Rosebery home in March 2022. Picture: Contributed

Long-term Territorian and Rosebery resident Jennie Copley shared her harrowing story of a violent break-in at her home.

It is one of so many she says she has lost count.

The incident happened in early March 2022.

Since the incident, she has bolstered security around her home to now also include cameras.

When asked about whether a restorative justice approach could help reducing offending, which would put victims of crime in the same room as their assailants, Mrs Copley said she didn’t think they cared.

Mrs Copley said no charges had been laid in relation to the below incident.

This is her story:

“Two males broke into our property. I discovered them on our back veranda at 1.30am helping themselves to our fridge.

“They took off with alcohol in a pool towel but dropped their mobile phone.

“My husband and I watched them run off but when they realised they didn’t have their phone they came back armed with a weapon and demanded entry to our property again.

“Threatened to smash our cars if we didn’t let them back and proceeded to bash the cars with a stick.

“My husband stood outside while I rang the police again.

“They pelted him with rocks resulting in a hit to the head.

“I rang police for a third time and ambulance with neither coming so cancelled the ambulance once we had stopped the flow of blood.

“Police eventually came and were wonderful but discovered they were the only patrol for the whole of Palmerston and beyond which on good authority I am told is not uncommon.

“What is that rationale with over 30,000 people in Palmerston alone?

“They borrow from which ever area has the greatest need.

“My husband presented to hospital in the morning and was diagnosed with a fractured skull.

“For two people in their 70s, this was a traumatic experience.

“Despite giving the police a mobile phone with perpetrators finger prints and making a formal statement, we received no further information or follow up so again the low life’s got away with it.

“We have lived in Rosebery for more than 23 years and have lost count of the break-ins to our property.

“MLA Mark Turner and the two police women were the only ones to give semblance of care.”

Crime in Darwin getting ‘worse and worse’

Hibiscus Shoppingtown, Leanyer has also face crime issues. Picture: Sierra Haigh

AHibiscus shopping centreemployee said he often felt compelled to give away free food to keep his customers safe.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said crime in Darwin was getting “worse and worse and worse”.

“Sometimes we give them food because I know they are hungry, because they keep begging my customers,” he said.

“And then the customers eating on the table, they keep asking for money and then if he doesn’t want to give money, they grab the food from the table, and then of course the customer is going to be upset.”

The employee alleged people had previously stolen drinks from the fridge as well as tried to take the store’s tip jar.

In another incident, the employee alleged one of his regular customers was followed to his car, where his wallet was stolen as he opened the door.

“The following day, this customer came to me, they want to report because they stole their money.”

Locked doors during the day the norm

A Nightcliff businesswoman has been forced to lock her doors during the day. Picture: Glenn Campbell

A Nightcliff businesswoman has been forced to lock her doors during the day, only unlocking them if a customer approaches the store.As the only worker in the store, she said she felt unsafe.

“Last month, I had some kids coming in, trying to steal, trying to grab my stuff, then I have to lock the door all the time,” she said.

“When someone comes in, I open the door – I have to run to open the door, that’s quite a hard job.”

The woman said she was concerned she would have to close her doors for good after four years in business because she was losing customers.

“I put the sign up to say ‘open’, but then some people are trying to open (the door) but can’t and then they just leave,” she said.

Costly security repairs and upgrades for town’s club

Tennant Creek Memorial Club has had to spend $3000 on perspex for its courtesy bus after it was attacked three times in the past couple of months. Picture: supplied.

Tennant Creek Memorial Club general manager Jordan Jenkins said the club has had to spend almost $30,000 in recent months and had lost staff after constant break-ins and rock-throwing incidents.

As a result, the business has had to spend more than $3000 fitting plexiglas and dashcams to the van, rendering it out of service for several days.

This is in addition to spending about $20,000 on fitting out the club with Crimsafe due to constant break-ins.

But Mr Jenkins said the worst part of the attacks was the staff he’d lost, while nobody had been physically injured, the rock-throwing behaviour on the streets had left many feeling unsafe at work.

“There’s just a huge turnover in staff that are willing to drive those courtesy buses,” he said.

“We’ve had two different bus drivers resign because they just didn’t feel safe with what’s happened.

“A courtesy bus in a small town is a responsible action to get people in without them having to drive, there’s definitely been a financial hit without it.

“I just arrived back in Tennant Creek in August and it’s been near constant since then.”

Mr Jenkins said the windows of its courtesy bus had been smashed by juveniles throwing rocks three times in the “past couple months”, costing about $800 each time.

Business owners ‘exhausted’ after latest crime damage.

“This is Alice Springs, pretty much all of the businesses have had their windows broken,” one manager said. Picture: Daily Telegraph.

One Alice Springs business owner was cleaning up from a break-in the previous night when contacted.

She said she felt exhausted.

“It feels very personal even though it isn’t,” she said.

An employee at a Larapinta late-night convenience store said anti-social behaviour was “near constant”.

“She (the owner) has been attacked, we’ve had a gutful.”

In the Alice Springs CBD, Grill Me Crazy manager Sanjay said its main problem was dealing with broken windows, although they had not had one in a few months.

When asked if it had impacted business continuity, he laughed.

“This is Alice Springs, pretty much all the businesses have had their windows broken.”

He said increased police presence had made his employees feel safer at work.

“It’s one less headache, now when it gets busy I can jump in and help the chefs.

“Before, I was a bit more apprehensive to leave the front of the store at any time because these kids could come around at any time.”

75-year-old attacked twice in three months

A 75-year-old was robbed twice in three months in her own Alice Springs home. Picture: supplied.

The Alice Springs community has rallied behind a 75-year-old, who didn’t want to be identified, whose home was broken into twice in three months with one of those incidents resulting in a broken wrist.

Angelique Glasson, who is organising a fundraiser for the victim, said the woman lived alone and had been left shaken by the attacks.

Ms Glasson said in one of the attacks the victim was threatened with an axe and assaulted, resulting in a broken wrist.

She was broken into for the second time last Thursday, leading to an overwhelming community response.

Ms Glasson said the local Rotary Club and Victims of Crime had installed sensor lights and safety screens so she could feel safer in her own home.

A television and electronically controlled recliner had also been donated with a large group of businesses and tradies working to help repair damage.

Originally published as NT business owners left frustrated and scared amid escalating crime