Bec Judd’s war on youth crime continues with a renewed public call to get repeat offenders off the streets.
The former AFL WAG and influencer has given a cautious welcome to Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan’s plans to overhaul the state’s bail laws as Melbourne’s youth crime crisis intensifies.
On Tuesday, the prime minister backtracked on an earlier government promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, while promising to implement ‘tougher consequences for serious and repeat young offenders’.
Judd, a self-proclaimed crime fighter in her affluent suburb of Brighton, welcomed the amendments.
But he believes more needs to be done to ensure Victorians feel safer.
“This is a start,” he told his 750,000 followers on Instagram.
He said “three innocent lives” had allegedly been lost to “out-of-control teenagers” in the past 12 months.
“Never before have Victorians felt so unsafe in their own homes. Violent and repeat offenders need to be off the streets. We’ll see how these changes play out,” he added.
Bec Judd (pictured) has continued her one-woman war on juvenile delinquency.
The AFL WAG has weighed in on the Victorian government’s plans to tighten bail laws
This is not the first time Judd has expressed his feelings about juvenile delinquency.
Earlier this month, Judd expressed anger that one of the youths allegedly involved in the kidnapping of teenager Benjamin Phikhohpoom in Melbourne that left him with permanent brain damage had walked free despite pleading guilty.
“Victoria, this is not right, but sadly this is another case of a violent criminal walking free because our laws are weak,” Judd wrote on social media.
He also recently slammed Melbourne as “woke, broke and violent” after residents were encouraged to put Apple AirTags in their cars amid a crime wave in the city.
The amended legislation will raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years.
First Minister Jacinta Allan has revealed the government’s plans to review the state’s bail laws.
Under former Premier Daniel Andrews, the government pledged in 2023 to raise the age to 14 by 2027, with exceptions for serious crimes such as murder and terrorism.
But after a series of high-profile incidents involving juvenile offenders, including two fatal car crashes in the past two months, Ms Allan said the sentence would remain at 12 years.
“This decision was made at a different time by a different government and with a different prime minister,” Prime Minister Allan told reporters.
No children under the age of 14 are imprisoned in Victoria and the Premier said passing the Youth Justice Bill would keep things that way.
His government will introduce amendments to the bill this week, including changes to the Bail Act to allow people to be held in custody if they pose an “unacceptable risk” of committing crimes such as aggravated robbery, vehicle theft, dangerous driving or family violence.
It will also be considered a crime for adults and children to commit a serious crime while on bail.
Attorney General Jaclyn Symes argued the new offence was different from the offence of committing an indictable offence while on bail that was repealed in March.
“It was about referring to vulnerable cohorts,” he said.
“What we are bringing back is a crime for committing very serious damage.”
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton welcomed the crackdown on dangerous driving, aggravated robbery, home invasion and armed robbery.