Operation Toric may have arrested 19 people – most of them recidivists – since it was set up at the start of the month; but will they face the full penalty of the law?
“[Police] are being demoralised by the fact that they’re locking up crooks, and those crooks are then being released on bail for them to lock up and do their job over and over and over again,” Alex Caruana, president of the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA), said.
“There is no clear message being sent to these criminals to say what you were doing is wrong.”
The AFPA is demanding a reform of the ACT’s bail and sentencing, appalled by a court decision to grant bail to a recidivist offender who allegedly attacked a policeman in the company of two other recidivist offenders.
On Thursday 18 August, Bradley Booth, John Khan, and David Miller parked outside the policeman’s house, then allegedly tried to ram his car when he pursued them. The ACT Magistrates Court granted Miller bail, even though he was “a renowned criminal” – because he had an “impeccable” record of court attendance.
Mr Caruana believes Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker’s decision could jeopardise the policeman’s safety and mental welfare.
“Police officers can be victims,” he said.
“The victim now must deal with knowing that the person who attacked him is still walking the streets. The offender knows where the victim lives, and could return at any time. Imagine what the [policeman’s] family is going through. What consideration was given to them when deciding on bail? …
“Bail conditions mean nothing in keeping someone away. All they do is give the police the power to arrest someone if they breach those bail conditions.”
Similarly, Mitchell Ryan Laidlaw will only serve three months in prison for killing Sue Salthouse, disability advocate and then Senior Australian of the Year. He will then serve a two-year suspended sentence. In 2020, Laidlaw hit Ms Salthouse with his car while driving on drugs. But even while on bail this year, Laidlaw once again was found driving on drugs.
- Tributes flow for ACT disability advocate Sue Salthouse (21 July 2020)
- Drug driver charged over fatal collision that claimed Sue Salthouse’s life (13 November 2020)
A cursory glance at recent crimes shows that bail is no guarantee of good behaviour. A 37-year-old man who stole a Hyundai on Thursday 11 August was on bail, having been charged with 16 offences. An 18-year-old man who stole a Volkswagen from a Fyshwick gym at the end of July was on an intensive corrections order at the time of the offence. A 29-year-old man charged on Sunday 14 August with dangerous driving, under the influence of drugs, and possessing stolen property and an offensive weapon, was on bail and parole. A 16-year-old boy who carjacked a Ford on Monday 15 August, threatened the driver with a knife, and punched him, was on bail. A 17-year-old girl who stole a Hyundai on Tuesday 16 August, drove the stolen vehicle at a police officer, rammed a police vehicle, and bit another police officer was on a good behaviour order.
The problem, according to Mr Caruana, is that ACT magistrates hand out ‘soft or light’ sentences. A suspended sentence, in his view, does not deter criminals.
“If someone’s a recidivist offender, especially if they’re out on bail already, they have clearly shown to the courts that they don’t care about the conditions that the courts have set…
“The message to criminals isn’t clear: you break the law, you’re going to face consequences.
“If someone’s been bailed previously, or someone’s a recidivist offender, they should be incarcerated; they should be put in jail. They should be forced to go through some sort of rehabilitation and re-education, so they can be integrated back into the community to be law-abiding citizens.”
Currently, Mr Caruana says, magistrates are reluctant to impose maximum penalties. The penalty for burglary is 1400 penalty units ($224,000), imprisonment for 14 years, or both. The penalty for taking a motor vehicle without consent is 500 penalty units ($80,000), imprisonment for five years, or both.
An ACT Policing spokesperson said they were not aware of anyone receiving the maximum penalty for burglary in recent memory, and no incident of motor theft had received the maximum penalty. (The spokesperson noted that the maximum penalty was uncommon in most jurisdictions.)
Mr Caruana blames Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury, who he says has the power to review magistrates’ decisions.
“If he was to make a strong stance to the courts, maybe the courts would change the way they deal with offenders,” Mr Caruana said.
“I think his personal ideologies are getting in the way of those of his constituents, or what his constituents want. His constituents want to feel safe when they go home. They don’t want a thug standing over them donging them on the head, stealing their car keys, and then using that car in other crimes.”
Mr Rattenbury said the ACT Government was committed to address reoffending in the ACT. He has asked the Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS) to investigate how to ensure sentencing adequately considered reoffending, and to address motor vehicle theft.
Similarly, the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety has undertaken an inquiry into road safety laws and sentencing.
Recidivism had declined by 9 per cent since 2018–19, Mr Rattenbury stated, while the Drug and Alcohol Court has rehabilitated offenders, saving $14 million due to avoided prison time.
“The ACT Government has a strong history of acting to address reoffending in our community,” Mr Rattenbury said. “We are committed to doing this through a mixture of accountability and support, rather than one to exclusion of the other.”
But Mr Caruana was not impressed with the JACS reviews. They were, he said, “a half-arsed attempt”.
“Getting JACS to review JACS is like asking someone to mark their own test. It’s not fair, it’s not transparent, it’s not independent. We need to have a real independent review into what’s going on, so we can make some real changes.”
Mr Caruana said he would continue to lobby the government for a review. He did not rule out getting federal intervention if changes were not made fast enough.
“No police officer goes out on their job, puts their life on the line, and anticipates not going home being injured or in any other way. Unfortunately, in the ACT, an inordinate number of police officers have been injured on the job because criminals don’t respect the police officers. And that’s because the message from the ACT Attorney-General is: We don’t respect police officers either, because we don’t care about them enough to change the legislation to protect the police officers, nor the community.”
Others also want reform. Liberal MLA Jeremy Hanson, Shadow Minister for Police, wants a full external review to see whether the operation of bail and sentencing in the ACT meets community standards, and whether it is being applied appropriately to keep the community safe.
A significant number of people were committing violent crimes while on bail, according to advice from people on the frontline and media reports, he said.
“This has been described as the ‘revolving door’ of bail. It certainly appears that bail is not operating as it should. If any number of those perpetrators had actually been incarcerated, then they would not have committed those crimes, people’s lives would have been saved, and we’d have had significantly less crime in the community.”
For more than a decade, the Canberra Liberals have repeatedly asked for data from the government that would show who is committing crimes whilst on bail; for what offences they were on bail; and what offences they committed whilst on bail.
But the government was unable or unwilling to provide that data, Mr Hanson said.
“I suspect it’s because a review would expose the fact that [bail and sentencing aren’t] working as it should; it would expose the fact that this government has, in some sense, lost control. And as a result of its mismanagement, significant numbers of crimes have been perpetrated that shouldn’t have been within our community.”
Thomas McLuckie, father of the late Matthew McLuckie, has lodged petitions with the Legislative Assembly for an independent review of sentencing practices in the ACT Judiciary and to implement sentencing guidelines for recidivism. His son was killed in a head-on collision with a stolen car being driven in the wrong lane.
- Family of Matthew McLuckie left ‘heartbroken’ after fatal collision on Hindmarsh Drive (24 May)
- Tom McLuckie campaigns to ensure son Matthew didn’t die in vain (13 July)
Mr Hanson sponsored the petitions.
“The tragedy that Tom McLuckie and his family has faced is something that no parent should ever have to face,” Mr Hanson said.
The Belco Party supports the AFPA’s calls for a full review and tightening of the ACT bail laws, said spokesman Bill Stefaniak.
“Tough bail laws work,” Mr Stefaniak said.
In 2001, as Attorney-General, he made courts refuse bail for repeat offenders charged with serious offences unless there were exceptional circumstances. Within six months, the ACT burglary rate had fallen by half.
“It’s very hard to commit an offence while in custody.”
He also believes ramming police vehicles should be an offence that automatically attracts a prison sentence.
“It’s amazing how quickly criminals catch on if they know they will be remanded in custody and do jail time,” Mr Stefaniak said.
