Latest news with #BailAct
Irish Independent
10-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Man who allegedly bit, strangled and headbutt his ex-partner is refused bail over 'grave concerns' for alleged victim's safety
The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the injured party, is charged with two counts of assault causing harm. He appeared before Tallaght District Court on Tuesday, where Garda Sarah Cullinane objected to bail on grounds of the nature and seriousness of the alleged offences, including the potential for witness interference. The court heard that the man is alleged to have bitten the woman on the forehead, strangled her, pulled her hair and smashed his forehead against her nose in separate incidents in April and July 2024. The woman sustained a broken nose and hospital records and photographs of her injuries were submitted as evidence. Appearing in court, the injured party said a friend believed she had been 'kidnapped' due to her sudden disappearance, and that she had returned to the relationship out of fear. She told the court she delayed reporting the assaults because she was in a 'controlling relationship' and only felt able to come forward after receiving support from counselling services and Women's Aid. Gardaí expressed serious concerns that, if released, the accused man would commit further offences, particularly given that he and his alleged victim share a child and have a volatile history. Defence solicitor Michael Hennessey said his client denies the allegations. He submitted that the accused man has no history of bench warrants, is now in a new relationship with a woman who is pregnant and was willing to abide by strict bail conditions, including a curfew and stay-away order. Judge Catherine Ghent said the facts of the case were of an extremely serious nature and that she had 'grave concerns' for the safety of the alleged injured party. She refused bail under Section 2 of the Bail Act and also cited O'Callaghan principles, noting the risk of further serious offences being committed. The accused was remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on Tuesday, May 13, at 10am.
The Guardian
21-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Victorian Labor's tough-on-crime turn could mark the beginning of the end for Jacinta Allan
It was meant to be the week Jacinta Allan took a firm stance on the 'crime crisis', but it could instead mark the beginning of the end for her government. It began on Monday with the Victorian premier announcing a new police taskforce, Operation Hawk, which appeared, on the surface, a decisive move to combat corruption on government construction sites. Within hours, it was revealed that the taskforce had already been operating for nine months. On Tuesday, Allan refused to say whether she had misled the public or was misled by Victoria police, instead stating she had been relying on the information provided to her by the new police commissioner. The pressure only intensified on Wednesday, when Allan was forced to fend off accusations of corruption and misconduct made by a former senior police officer. Then, on Thursday, came the release of the latest crime statistics data, showing a 13.2% increase in the state's crime rate – the highest since 2016. Offences committed by children aged between 10 and 17 rose to their highest levels since electronic records began in 1993. The Coalition was quick to seize on the data, with opposition leader, Brad Battin, accusing the government of failing to keep Victorians safe. 'The numbers don't lie – Labor has lost control of law and order and Victorians are paying the price,' he said. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email On this front, at least, the government appeared prepared. Earlier in the week, it had introduced changes to the Bail Act to parliament, claiming they would help reduce offending (though they have been widely criticised by legal, human rights and First Nations groups – and even privately by some within Labor's ranks). The premier and her several of her MPs took to social media to promote the so-called 'Tough Bail Bill', mirroring the media release announcing the bill, which used the word 'tough' or 'toughest' 33 times. Kos Samaras, a former Labor strategist and RedBridge director, has criticised the party's 'newfound love for being tough on crime', comparing it to a 'long political suicide note'. He says this isn't the first time the Victorian Labor party has found itself facing a 'crime crisis' – in 2016, when crime rates were similarly high and concern over the Apex gang hit overdrive, the opposition ramped up its attacks on law and order. In the lead-up to the 2018 election, Liberal MPs pushed a narrative centred on 'African gangs', including Peter Dutton's now-infamous comments about Melburnians being afraid to go out for dinner. The then premier, Daniel Andrews, didn't take the bait, and it proved to be a winning move for Labor. Crime, defence, and immigration are traditional strengths for the Coalition, and Samaras says Labor should remember that: 'Once you move onto your opponents' turf, you're going to lose'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Instead, Labor's success in 2018 came from a focus on its core issues of education, health, jobs and public transport. Federal Labor has emulated this, as it focuses on Medicare in the lead up to the May election. Perhaps the path forward for Victorian Labor can be found in data that went largely overlooked on Thursday: the huge increase in theft of groceries, clothing and alcohol linked to adult offenders, often in their 30s, facing cost of living pressures. The issue is the primary concern of voters, who have been crying out for bold ideas to ease the pressure. All Allan has offered them is $400 vouchers for school children and daily reporting on fuel prices. Instead, she's become known for backflips – from bail and raising the age of criminal responsibility, to ignoring recommendations for a second injecting room and a ban on duck hunting. The one issue on which the premier has has expressed a bold, progressive vision on is housing. In October, she vowed to make Victoria the 'townhouse capital' of Australia as part of a bid to help millennials own homes. It will take years, though, before any results are seen. A Labor insider said tackling cost of living would also work to reduce crime. 'Young people don't just commit crimes - it's a result of systemic, class-based disadvantage which cannot be ignored,' they said. 'It's very sad to see a supposedly centre left government focus on imprisonment and not the social and economic determinants of youth crime.' There's a lesson in this week for the Liberals too. While Battin, a former police officer, is comfortable talking tough on crime, after the 2018 loss, an internal review was scathing of the party's law and order strategy. According to the review, it was seen as a political tactic rather than a genuine plan to improve public safety – and only influenced 6% of voters and not necessarily in the Coalition's favour. The opposition needs more than just a focus on crime to win government and it needs unity, which already began to fray as it was revealed on Tuesday Battin went on a four-day cruise last week as debate over crime reached fever pitch. In the early hours of Friday morning, Labor's bail bill passed parliament. But the word 'tough' was missing from its title, after the opposition moved an amendment to scrap it, arguing it wasn't tough enough. While seemingly petty, the move underscores the reality for Allan: no matter what Labor does on law and order, the opposition is always prepared to go further. It's a political battle Labor simply can't win.
The Guardian
21-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Afternoon Update: Victoria's ‘dangerous' bail reform; Heathrow closed after nearby blaze; and the pop girly country renaissance
Good afternoon. The Victorian government's controversial bail laws have passed parliament after a marathon debate, sparking criticism from legal and human rights groups who warn it will lead to the increased criminalisation of Aboriginal and other marginalised communities. The premier, Jacinta Allan, announced the changes to the Bail Act last week, before they were fast-tracked through parliament, passing the lower house on Tuesday and the upper house in the early hours of Friday. The new legislation scraps the principle of remand only as a 'last resort' for accused youth offenders. In its place, community safety would become the 'overarching principle' when deciding bail for children and adults. It also revives two bail offences – 'committing an indictable offence while on bail for indictable offence' and 'breaching of condition of bail' – each adding an additional three months of imprisonment to any other sentence imposed. The Human Rights Law Centre, the Federation of Community Legal Services Victoria (FCLSV), Flat Out advocacy service and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service issued a joint statement after the bill passed, warning that it would lead to more vulnerable individuals being 'needlessly' locked up, and calling the laws 'dangerous and discriminatory'. Heathrow airport closed as firefighters tackle large Hayes substation fire that sparked blackouts Calls grow in Serbia for investigation into claims 'sound cannon' targeted protesters Trump rescinds executive order after law firm agrees to provide $40m in free services Israeli government approves firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar despite huge protests Florida man executed for killing eight-year-old girl and her grandmother US authorities claim tattoos prove membership of the Tren de Aragua gang but relatives of migrants caught up in Trump's crackdown say they are tributes to God, family and Real Madrid. Has the US targeted Venezuelans for their body art? 'It doesn't matter if they're very small island nations, their stories matter' – Oemwa Johnson Growing up in the Pacific nation of Kiribati, Johnson heard her grandfather's stories about nuclear explosions he witnessed in the 1950s. Between 1946 and 1996, the US, the UK and France conducted more than 300 underwater and atmospheric nuclear tests in the Pacific region, and people suffered grave health consequences as a result. This month, supporters of the UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons – including many from Pacific nations – met to discuss the treaty and call for wider ratification. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Two-thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the world is likely to be affected in some way by receding glaciers and dwindling snowfall in mountain regions, driven by the climate crisis, according to a Unesco report. Cowboy hats and flannels are no longer just the realm of country music – or lesbians. Country music is cool now – even the pop girlies are leaning into it. Rebecca Shaw has finally been vindicated. Today's starter word is: SIGH. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply. If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know with our Morning Mail newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Victorian bail laws passed after marathon debate as Jacinta Allan says she has ‘listened to victims of crime'
The Victorian government's controversial bail laws have passed parliament after a marathon debate, sparking criticism from legal and human rights groups who warn it will lead to the increased criminalisation of Aboriginal and other marginalised communities. The premier, Jacinta Allan, announced the changes to the Bail Act last week, before they were fast-tracked through parliament, passing the lower house on Tuesday and then the upper house in the early hours of Friday. The debate dragged on in part due to the opposition's push to remove the word 'tough' from the bill's title, forcing the legislation to return to the lower house at 12.30am to rename it. It is now the Bail Amendment Act. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Allan had ordered a review into the state's bail laws in February amid growing community concern over rising crime. The latest crime statistics, released on Thursday, revealed a 13.2% increase in the crime rate – the highest it has been since 2016. Offences committed by children aged between 10 and 17 rose to their highest levels since electronic records began in 1993. Allan said her bail changes targeted the serious, repeat offenders police have identified as responsible for the increase in offending. 'I have listened to victims of crime and Victorians, and I have acted. These are the toughest bail laws in the country – putting community safety above all and delivering consequences for those who break the law,' she said on Friday morning. 'These laws send the strongest possible message to offenders – clean your act up or face the consequences.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The new legislation scraps the principle of remand only as a 'last resort' for accused youth offenders. In its place, community safety would become the 'overarching principle' when deciding bail for children and adults. It also revives two bail offences – 'committing an indictable offence while on bail for indictable offence' and 'breaching of condition of bail' – each adding an additional three months of imprisonment to any other sentence imposed. The offences were scrapped in 2023, after advocacy by the family of Veronica Nelson and recommendations from a coronial inquest into her 2020 death in custody. Tougher bail tests for serious offences including aggravated burglary, home invasions and knife crime were also included in the bill but their introduction could be delayed by up to three months, due to the need for additional resources to manage the anticipated increase in offenders held on remand. The Human Rights Law Centre, the Federation of Community Legal Services Victoria (FCLSV), Flat Out advocacy service and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service issued a joint statement after the bill passed, warning that it would lead to more vulnerable individuals being 'needlessly' locked up. 'The Allan government has today rammed through dangerous and discriminatory bail laws which will deeply harm Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and breach human rights,' it said. The First Nations director at the Human Rights Law Centre, Maggie Munn, said it was 'deeply shameful' the Allan government had not learnt from 'past policy failures', and instead 'capitulated to the tabloid media to entrench dangerous bail laws that undermine people's right to liberty'. Louisa Gibbs, the chief executive of the FCLSV, said the state's legal sector was 'united in our position that rewinding bail laws is a costly and dangerous mistake that will cause far more harm than good, without addressing community safety'.
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- The Guardian
Cost of living and family violence help push Victoria crime rate to highest level in almost a decade
Crime across Victoria is now at its highest level in almost a decade with cost-of-living pressures, family violence and a small group of young repeat offenders singled out as contributing factors, placing further pressure on the embattled Allan government. As Labor's controversial 'tough' bail laws were debated in parliament on Thursday, the Crime Statistics Agency released data showing 605,640 criminal offences were recorded in Victoria in 2014 – a 15.7% increase from the previous year. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email When adjusted for population growth, the crime rate for every 100,000 people was 8,691.6, marking a 13.2% rise from 2023. Despite this, the rate remains lower than it was in 2016. However, crimes committed by children aged 10 to 17 rose in 2024 to their highest levels since electronic records began in 1993. There were 7,414 children arrested 24,550 times in 2024 – although Victoria police said a small group of about 330 'hardened young offenders' was behind most of the offending. Police said the number of unique offenders was down by 3% compared to 2023 but repeat offender incidents increased by 4.9%. 'In simple terms, there are less children committing crime but those who continue to offend are doing so more frequently,' police said. Speaking outside parliament on Thursday, the police minister, Anthony Carbines, said there were 20 young offenders responsible for committing more than 300 aggravated burglaries involving vehicle theft. 'Our unique offender rate is flat, but the offence rate continues to go up because of the repeat offenders,' Carbines said. Theft from motor vehicles – at 75,731 offences, an increase of 18,929 since 2023 – is the most common, and fastest-growing, crime in Victoria. More than a third of these offences were related to number plate theft (27,466). Victoria police deputy commissioner for regional operations, Bob Hill, described the rising rate of youth crime as 'completely unacceptable' but was confident the government's proposed bail laws would reduce offending. The Labor government introduced changes to the Bail Act – criticised by legal human rights and First Nations groups – to parliament this week amid debate over what some conservative media and commentators have labelled a 'youth crime crisis'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The parliament is expected to sit late on Thursday to pass the so-called 'Tough Bail Bill', which would force courts to treat children accused of serious crimes like adults when deciding whether to remand them or release them into the community. The Coalition opposition, which supports the bill, will move several amendments, including to remove the word 'tough' from the title as they want it to go further. Opposition leader, Brad Battin, denied the amendment was 'petty'. He said the latest data was 'horrific' and proved 'crime is out of control across the whole state'. 'They should have acted on this a long time ago,' Battin said. Meanwhile, the Greens will oppose the bill, describing it as 'draconian', 'rushed' and 'panicked'. 'The last time we had laws like this in Victoria, we saw a doubling of First Nations women in our prisons for non-violent crimes, we saw more kids in our prisons … and we saw deaths in custody,' leader Ellen Sandell said. Hill said although it has received less attention, crime related to the cost of living and family violence also increased in 2024. 'While youth crime is playing out on our streets and in our newspapers, the scourge of family violence carried out behind closed doors has hit record levels that see police responding to an incident every five minutes,' he said. 'Highly difficult economic times are also having a significant impact on crime, with financial pressures a common cause for family violence, while more people are resorting to stealing from shops to feed and clothe themselves and their family.' The number of family violence incidents reached an all-time high, increasing 11.3% from 94,166 in 2023 to 104,786 in 2024. Retail theft also rose, with 38,750 incidents reported, an increase of 10,512 from 2023. Groceries, clothing and alcohol were most frequently stolen. Carbines acknowledged cost-of-living pressures were taking a toll on Victorians but said it was not a 'leave pass' to break the law. 'There are many in the community who are working hard, working two or three jobs … busting a gut to put food on the table for their families, to pay their mortgages but they're not breaking the law,' he said.
