An Australian coastal community is outraged by the punishment imposed on a teenager who jokingly pushed an elderly woman off a pier.
The boy, who was 14 when he and two friends were involved in the incident in January, could have drowned the woman – who could not swim – had others not jumped in to save her.
And now there is shock in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula community after the boy, now 15, walked out of court without a conviction on Tuesday.
Instead, he was given a diversion order, meaning he will complete a mandatory program including counseling and education.
Chris Crewther, state MP for Mornington and Victorian Opposition spokesman for justice and corrections, said it was nothing more than a “pat on the fingers”.
There is outrage in an Australian coastal community over the punishment 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 most of the Mornington community at the time that these three young people would just push an older person off the pier for no reason,” he said. 3AW radio.
“I was just as shocked, as is our community, that he basically just got a tap on the knuckles.”
The boy was on bail at the time of the attack, but the court heard he regretted what he did.
However, Mr Crewther is skeptical of this claim.
“He said he was remorseful in court, but then he gave the finger to people outside the courtroom,” the MP said.
“There’s really not a lot of justice for the victims and the constant fear, and if there are no consequences, they just continue to commit more crimes.”
Mr Crewther agreed with radio host Jacqui Felgate that there is an “annoying element” to Victoria’s youth crime crisis.
“I think we are seeing this increase more and more recently, with young people committing crimes and bragging about their crimes on social media and elsewhere, but there seems to be little consequence for young people who commit offences,” he said.
It was also pointed out that Mornington Police Station is operating on reduced hours.
“This happened under the state Labor government where they cut the hours for several different police stations across Victoria,” he said.
‘In this case you mainly look at the fact that the young man was out on bail for assault, for assaulting a 35-year-old woman.
“He committed the offense by pushing the person off the pier while he was already out on bail.”
There was shock in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula community when the now 15-year-old walked out of court on Tuesday without a criminal conviction. The scene of the incident is depicted
Mr Crewther said this shows the Labor government is “weakening our bail laws in Victoria, particularly in relation to abolishing offenses of breaching bail conditions and abolishing offenses of committing an offense while on bail are’.
During sentencing, the magistrate told the court ‘it will not be an easy process’, adding that ‘you regret your conduct, which is a positive step for you and the community’.
The teen’s father told the story 9News outside court: ‘We are very happy with the outcome.’
If he completes that four-month order, the charges against the 15-year-old will be expunged from his record.