Bec Judd takes swipe at soft sentencing for violent offenders as she continues her war on crime: ‘Australians are angry’
Bec Judd has again criticised authorities in Victoria, expressing her anger at violent criminals on the loose.
The influencer is on a crusade to reduce crime in Melbourne, particularly in her posh suburb of Bayside, and has become a thorn in the side of Jacinta Allan’s state government.
In her final spray, Bec expressed her anger that one of the youths involved in the kidnapping of Melbourne teenager Benjamin Phikhohpoom, which left him with permanent brain damage, was walking free despite pleading guilty.
“Victoria, this is not okay, but sadly just another case of a violent criminal getting away with it because our laws are weak,” Bec wrote on social media.
She then highlighted a response she had received from one of her legion of followers, which said: ‘Maybe the victims should take this to civil courts which will NOT be so lenient. And maybe a case can be filed against the judge in civil court??!’
Bec continued: ‘I get hundreds of DMs like this. People are so angry at magistrates but confused by the legal process. I would like a better understanding of how much a sentencing decision is influenced by the law versus the magistrate’s own judgement.
‘If you are a legal expert and can explain this in layman’s terms so I can share it with my audience, please drop me a line in my DMs (I will protect my identity). Victorians are angry. They are also confused by the decision-making. Is the government, magistrates, attorney general etc to blame? Thank you.’
Benjamin suffered life-changing injuries when he was dragged into a stolen car by a group of three teenagers outside Glen Eira College, in Melbourne’s south-east, at about 3.30pm last September.
Bec Judd has again criticised authorities in Victoria as she expressed her anger over violent criminals on the loose
A 15-year-old boy accused of being involved in the alleged kidnapping and assault of schoolboy Benjamin Phikhohpoom (pictured) has had serious charges dropped in exchange for a guilty plea
The group, consisting of two boys and a girl, were reportedly armed with machetes and demanded that he hand over his phone and belongings.
He was then allegedly run over by the car and dragged 150 metres. He was then stabbed and run over again when he was thrown from the vehicle.
Bystanders saw Benjamin vomiting blood and he was rushed to hospital, where he remained in a coma for six days with a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage.
However, a settlement was reached with prosecutors, which saw charges of intentionally causing serious injury and reckless endangerment dropped.
Benjamin’s mother, Wannisa Srichan, said while some justice had been done, the family was “still very sad about the outcome.”
“What this boy did was very serious and it affected my son very deeply,” she told the Herald Sun.
‘I listened to the trial today and it was very hard… My son is still suffering from it, he is having a hard time with it.
“It’s been almost 10 months now and we are so angry that our family had to go through this. Benjamin didn’t deserve this.”
The teenager accused spent 43 days in custody before being released on bail in October.
Benjamin spent six days in a coma (pictured) after suffering a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage when he was dragged 150 meters from a stolen car driven by the group
Benjamin’s family said it was difficult to hear the details of the plea in court
Last month, Bec criticised Melbourne as “woke, broke and violent” after residents were encouraged to fit Apple AirTags in their cars amid a crime wave in the city.
The footballer, who lives in a $7.3 million mansion in Brighton, was keen to comment on an interview between 3AW radio station Jacqui Felgate and Sandringham Liberal MP Brad Rowswell.
During the lecture, Mr Rowswell was asked about the increase in violent crime in Melbourne’s suburbs.
The MP was asked at a safety forum in Beaumaris last Thursday about a suggestion from residents to fit AirTag trackers to their cars in case they get stolen. Judd disagreed.
“Melbourne this is sad. Woke, broke and violent. I can’t believe we live like this,” Judd wrote online.
In March, Judd challenged Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan after a home invasion in Bayside left an elderly man fighting for his life.
Three attackers broke into a house in Beaumaris, a stone’s throw from Judd’s country home, where they attacked the man.
Jacinta Allan is under pressure to make changes to the criminal law
His wife, 75, who was also home at the time, was not injured. Nothing was reportedly stolen.
“Just a night in Victoria (yes, this is Bayside again, but we know this happens everywhere),” Judd told her Instagram followers at the time.
‘Jacinta Allan, how can you still avoid this? Let’s see how many of the alleged perpetrators are out on bail… My thoughts are with the victim in ICU and his poor wife.’
In June 2022, Judd said she felt “unsafe” in her mansion and was “so fed up with the gang rapes, beatings and home invasions in Bayside.”
“I personally know two women who have had burglaries while they were at home in Brighton in recent weeks,” she said.
She also reposted surveillance footage of a gang of young men hanging around outside homes in her affluent neighborhood, claiming it made her feel “unsafe.”
Last year she repeated her claim that Melbourne’s elite neighbourhoods are under siege by criminals and “machete-wielding thugs” and called for changes to youth crime laws.
She and her husband Chris have four children: daughter Billie, nine, son Oscar, twelve, and twins Darcy and Tom, seven.