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A victim of youth crime has pled with the Victorian government to tighten bail laws following a string of violent offences across the south-east.
Joy Paul and his wife returned to their home in Frankston from a walk when three teenagers allegedly broke in and stole the keys to his brand new Hyundai Tuscan.
“They opened the door, took the key, within fraction, it’s gone,” he told 9News.
Using the car’s GPS, police were able to find and arrest a 17-year-old boy in Sandringham.
He was charged and, within hours, was bailed and back on the streets.
9News understands the teen has been charged and bailed dozens of times prior.
When asked whether bail laws should be tightened, Paul said “definitely”.
“Kids coming out bail do the same thing again and again and again,” he said.
“I just can’t believe they can get away with it,” Paul’s son Albin added.
Premier Jacinta Allan, however, has maintained the state’s youth crime crisis was being pedalled by a “small number of people engaging in dangerous, repeat behaviour”.
She drew criticism from her Opposition Leader John Pesutto, who said the state government has “weakened bail laws” despite advice from his party.
In the recent string of offences, a 14-year-old boy was reportedly bailed twice in less than 24 hours after he was charged over an alleged crime spree through the south-eastern suburbs.
He was arrested in Rowville on Friday after police tracked an alleged stolen Audi driving at speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour.
He allegedly boasted about his offences on social media.
On that same day and in an unrelated matter, a 65-year-old man was left fighting for his life in hospital after he was allegedly bashed when he confronted a group of teens stealing from his car in Beaumaris.
The man was taken to hospital, where he was in stable condition, while three teens were arrested and released back into the community without charge.
