An Australian coastal community has been left outraged by the sentence handed down to a teenager who pushed an elderly woman off a pier as a joke.
The boy, who was 14 when he and two classmates were involved in the incident in January, could have caused the woman, who could not swim, to drown if others had not jumped into the water to save her.
And now there is shock in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula community after the boy, who has since turned 15, walked out of court on Tuesday without a conviction.
Instead, he received a diversion order, meaning he will undergo a mandatory program that includes counseling and education.
Chris Crewther, state MP for Mornington and Victorian Opposition spokesperson for justice and the prison system, said it was nothing more than a “rapping on the knuckles”.
There is outrage in an Australian coastal community over the sentence handed down to a teenager who pushed an elderly woman off a pier (pictured) and then laughed about it.
“It was quite shocking to me and the majority of the Mornington community at the time, for these three young men to push an elderly person off the pier for no reason,” he said. 3AW radio.
“I was equally surprised, with our community, that he basically just got rapped on the knuckles.”
The boy was out on bail at the time of the attack, but the court heard he was remorseful for what he did.
Crewther, however, is skeptical of this claim.
“He said he was sorry in court, but then pointed the finger at people outside the court,” the MP said.
“There really isn’t much justice for the victims and the fear continues, and when there are no consequences, they just continue to commit more crimes.”
Crewther agreed with radio host Jacqui Felgate that Victoria’s youth crime crisis has an “unpleasant element”.
“I think we’ve seen this increase more and more recently, where young people commit crimes and brag about their crimes on social media and elsewhere, but there seems to be few consequences for young people who commit crimes,” he said.
It was also noted that Mornington Police Station is operating on reduced hours.
“This has happened under the state Labor government, where they have reduced working hours at a number of different police stations in Victoria,” he said.
‘In this case in particular, we looked at the fact that the young man was on bail for assault, for assaulting a 35-year-old woman.
“He committed this crime of pushing the person off the dock when he was already out on bail.”
There was shock in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula community when the young man, now 15, walked out of court on Tuesday without a criminal conviction. The photo shows the scene of the incident.
Crewther said this demonstrated that the Labor government is “weakening our bail laws in Victoria, particularly with respect to the abolition of the offenses of breaching bail conditions and the abolition of the offenses of committing a crime.” prosecutable while on bail.”
During sentencing, the magistrate told the court that “it will not be an easy process” and added that “you are remorseful for your behavior, which is a positive step for you and the community.”
The teenager’s father said 9News Off the field: “We are very happy with the result.”
If he completes that four-month order, the charges against the 15-year-old will be removed from his record.
