Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan found herself avoiding direct responses to questions regarding the legal thresholds for criminal responsibility among youths. This follows an incident where over 100 charges against a 14-year-old girl were dismissed.
The young girl, who was originally facing 109 charges stemming from an alleged two-month spree that included purported anti-Semitic acts, was denied bail in April due to the gravity of her alleged actions. However, in a significant turn of events, all charges were dropped today.
The decision to withdraw the charges came after prosecutors were unable to meet the stringent requirements of the Doli incapax principle. This legal standard presumes that children aged 13 and under are not capable of criminal intent. At the time of the alleged offences, the girl was just 13 years old.
“The charges were withdrawn because the police prosecution was unable to rebut the legal presumption that a child aged 13 and under is incapable of committing a criminal offence,” a spokesperson for Victoria Police informed 9News. They further explained that overcoming this presumption requires proving that the child understood their conduct was seriously morally wrong.
Premier Allan acknowledged that the teen’s alleged behavior fell significantly short of what the community expects. However, she did not elaborate on potential changes to the legal framework concerning youth crime accountability.
The premier today agreed the teen’s behaviour was “far from in line with community expectation”.
“As a parent it is quite shocking to think that there are kids that age undertaking this sort of behaviour and it’s showing them the consequences of what happens if you continue down that path,” Allan said.
“That sort of behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and it’s why we’ve toughened the bail laws, it’s why we’ve introduced adult time for adult crime.”
But Allan and Victorian Attorney General Sonya Kilkenny were both unwilling to comment on why the teen was let off.
“In terms of the specifics of the individual or individual court case I’ve not been briefed on that matter,” Allan said.
“I will need to get further advice and come back to you.”
When asked whether the government would look into reviewing the Doli incapax ruling, Kilkenny said she was “not here to make an announcement on those matters”.
“Every matter is different with every victim, with every offender we are talking about different circumstances, which is why it is so important not to pull out individual cases but look to a system as a whole,” Kilkenny said.
Police had alleged the girl’s phone search history showed she had Googled “how long the sentence is for running someone over”, as well as “where do Jews live” prior to some offences.
“If you’re old enough to be able to Google the punishment, then you should be certainly old enough to take the punishment,” Opposition spokesperson David Southwick said.
“I think this young person would be laughing at Victoria and our legal system right now.”
In one incident on March 30, the girl was allegedly behind the wheel of a stolen car in Brighton in Melbourne’s south-east and attempted to hit a cyclist with the passenger door of the car.
The court heard about other alleged incidents targeting Jewish people, including antisemitic remarks shouted at pedestrians in Hampton, Ripponlea and Caulfield, and swerving towards a Jewish family in Ripponlea in March â causing them to run for cover.
Victoria Police insisted the concerns of the Jewish community were still being taken into account despite the withdrawal of the charges.
“We understand the concern these incidents have caused in the community, especially for members of the Jewish community,” the spokesperson said.
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