It was the 28th August 2012, in Courtroom Eight Magistrate Jillian Crowe was hearing Intervention Order Cases, She said to The Legal Representatives Of Both Parties in Adjourning the case, Do You really want to appear back in Court in December???, Some People have a Distorted View of What Intervention Orders can Do, They can't make a Sad person Happy.
What an Understatement by Magistrate Crowe, Of Course many People have a distorted View of What Intervention Orders Can Do and also what they Should Be used For as well. This applies To Magistrate's in Victorian Magistrate's Court's as well.
The History of Intervention Order's and AVO'S In Australia is Littered With Tragic Stories Of people who have been Killed because they Falsely Believed that Intervention Orders would Protect Them, because they had a distorted View Of What Intervention Orders Can Do.
In Effect The Whole Intervention Order Process is Built on a Distorted View that Handing Intervention Orders to everybody Will Somehow Prevent Violence In Family situations. This approach has never Been Successful, it doesn't work.
I Have Sat in Magistrate Doug Bolster's Court Many Times and Heard him say to an applicant, If there is a Breech of The Intervention Order, call the police and they will become Involved.
Yes that may well happen but not in the way Magistrate Doug Bolster May think.
TWO 000 calls were made By Penny Pratt in Melbourne who was murdered minutes later after an emergency operator did not pass the request for attendance to police. "I'm
hiding in a bush answering your questions," Ms Pratt said,
adding there were "three violent offenders" after her
In This Case Penny Pratt rang 000 to Get Police assistance, The Police did become Involved, but only after the Tragic Death of Penny Pratt, In Many cases People needing assistance By Police just Don't have The Time To call, Given the Violent Nature of Their Circumstances.
To hand Somebody a Piece Of Paper and Then Simply say, Ring The Police, Is a very Distorted and unrealistic approach to What can be a very Dangerous Physical Threat. So after This Distorted Process Predictably Fails, What Does The Legal Authorities in Victoria Do????, Get More Police or More Trained 000 Staff???. No, They Just go out and change the Intervention Order Legislation again, Making the Orders even more Draconian.
The Next Case Before Magistrate Jillian Crowe is an example of How Ridiculous The Intervention Order Process has Become. The Defendant's Intervention Order had been in Place For Nearly 11 years and The Defendant had no Contact with his ex Wife at all in Nearly 9 Years. The defendant had Previously Sought Variations to The Order to Continue attending a Public Facility that he had been a member of, for About 11 Years. The Defendant has now been attending a Different Public Facility since 2004 to get away from his Vindictive Ex-In-laws.
Magistrate Jillian Crowe asked The Defendant how many times he had Previously Sought a Variation to The Intervention Order, Possibly about 2 or 3 Times, I Don't Really Know Replied the Defendant.
Since going to another Place Of Recreation in 2004 every application to end The Intervention Order Since That Time had been Heard By Magistrate Denise O'Reilly at Heidelberg Magistrate's Court,
In 2004 The Defendant had taken out a membership At a Different Leisurecentre and Regularly attended the Public Facility Pictured at Left, none Of The Defendant's Ex-In-Laws Worked There or used the Facility.
Even Though the Defendant was using these Facilities To get away from His ex-in-laws and Avoid any Possibilty of a Breech of an Intervention Order. When the Defendant rang The Local Magistrate's Court and was Put Through to The Intervention Order Desk.
The Defendant was told he would still be Breeching an Intervention Order if One Of His Ex-in-laws Walked Into This Facility.So Even though The Defendant was now going Somewhere else to avoid his ex-in-laws, that did not eliminate the possibility of a Breech of the Intervention Order, Unless the Defendant Left The Leisurecentre. Considering the Penalties for Breeching an Intervention Order in Victoria are 2 Years Jail or a $28,000 Fine, it is far Better to Be Safe than end up Locked in a Police Jail Cell.
In the foyer Outside Courtroom Eight, I spoke to a guy Whose Female Partner had Taken an Intervention Order against Him, his Partner had then started coming Over To Visit Him, For This he was Eventually charged for Breeching an Intervention Order and was Told it was His Responsibility, Not His partner's to Keep away From Her. This is exactly the same as The Leisurecentre Situation, You can go elsewhere to avoid the Affected Family Member, but if they come to where you are, it is the Defendant's responsibility to keep away from the AFM.
It is Certainly a very Distorted and Ridiculous application of a Breech of Intervention Order.So Magistrate Jillian Crowe's Statement that People have a Distorted View Of What Intervention Order's can do is Definately True, But How Ridiculous can It Get????
In Western Australia ,Bradley Jones was Convicted of Killing his Wife Saori after Punching Her and Leaving Her Dead Body In The House Decomposing for 2 Weeks. Despite The Fact a Drunken Bradley Jones Punched His wife in the Head during an argument. During Jones Sentencing Before Justice Lindy Jenkins , She said The Circumstances of This offence is Very serious Because you admitted hitting Your wife Very Hard
Justice Lindy Jenkins Then sentenced Bradley Jones To Five Years Jail, with a Non Parole Period Of 3 Years.
Bradley Jones is Lucky that he was sentenced in Western Australia by Justice Lindy Jenkins, Rather than appearing Before Magistrate Denise O'Reilly in Victoria.
Back In 2003 an Intervention Order was granted By Magistrate Denise O'Reilly For a Period of 5 Years over a Woman's Complaint that her Cat Feeding Containers were Disappearing(Pictured At Left).
The Woman Even Told The Court that she wanted The Defendant in This Ridiculous Order to pay For The Cost of her Missing Food & Water Containers.
She told the Magistrate that she feared the Defendant would Punch Her and Take her Containers, which didn't make sense as the containers were placed in a Public Carpark at the rear of a strip Shopping Complex. They Containers could be taken by anybody at any Time.
So In Western Australia you can receive a five Year Maximum Sentence For Manslaughter for punching & Killing your wife, with a Minimum of three, yet in Victoria you can end up with a five Year intervention Order Over the Disappearance of Cat feeding Containers?????.
Back In Courtroom Eight Before Magistrate Jillian Crowe, The Defendant seeking a Variation To His intervention Order which had been in place for Nearly 11 Years, asked why his application to vary the order should not be granted, when Violent Offenders like Bradley Jones will only Serve a Maximum 5 Years for Manslaughter. I Won't Comment on That was Magistrate Jillian Crowe's Reply to The Defendant's Question. The Defendant wanted to Know why an Intervention Order in Victoria Should last much longer than a Manslaughter Charge in Western Australia, The Sentencing laws do Not Make any Sense.
Victorian Magistrate's Demand that Defendant's or AFM's answer Their Questions Precisely, Yet if you ask a magistrate for a Clarification or Explanation Regarding an Intervention Order, if they don't want to or Can't answer Your question, they ignore you very Quickly.
In Another Case In a Melbourne Court, an elderly women applied for an Intervention Order against another Elderly Woman Living in The Same Retirement Village, the Applicant Told The Magistrate that she wanted the Defendant stopped From going Past Her Unit from 4 Times a day to Only Twice a day. The Defendant told The magistrate she was only going Past To Visit her Friend's in The Village. The Magistrate granted The Final Intervention Order application for 12 Months and The Defendant could not Come within 20 Metres of The Applicant's Unit and had to walk on the Concrete Paths on either Side of the Applicant's Unit. What a distorted Decision handed Down By The Court!!!!, A Dispute Between two elderly Women in a Retirement Village????.
In Melbourne we're told that Family Violence is Increasing and we're Being Led to Believe it is all Because of Abusive and Violent Husbands, which is not really True.
For a long Time in Clubs, Hotels and entertainment Areas, Fight's and Street Violence has Dramatically Increased, resulting in a number of Deaths. Many of These Younger people Involved in These Fights return Home to Their Parents Homes Drunk or on Drugs, More Parents Are Finding They can't Cope with This anymore and Turn to Intervention Orders to protect Themselves From Their Children. Reports of Their Children Banging on Windows & Doors to get Their Parents to Let Them Into the House Have Increased, One application was against a son who came to his parent's house to abuse his parents for not giving him $15,000 to Buy a Car.
These situations can also Lead To Other Applications Before The Magistrate's Court's. I was in Court when One Father who wanted his 25 Year Old daughter to Move out into a Home of Her Own, ended up having an Intervention Order issued against Him By His Daughter, who had made Allegations against Her Father.The father Told Magistrate Greg McNamara that his Daughter's Intervention order was just a Frivolous Use Of an Intervention Order because she didn't want to Leave His Home, to which The Magistrate Replied, There are no Frivolous Orders issued By the Court.
I Would Definately Disagree, there are many people who misuse Intervention Orders. I have also seen a mother Crying in Court before a magistrate pleading with Him to at Least allow Her to Ring Her son. So Who is Going to Stop These Frivolous and Distorted Applications for Intervention Orders in Victorian Courts???. They are merely Trivial Disputes not associated at all with Family Violence.
There are More serious Problems associated with the lack of a proper application of Intervention Orders. When a Magistrate Sentences Someone Who Breeches an Intervention Order To Jail. The Defendants are then Mixing with all Sorts of Criminals with access to all sorts of Firearms, When The Defendant is released, it would be a very easy process for the defendant to pick up a firearm from friends of Inmates they Met in Jail. There are No Checks by Police at all to make sure the Defendant has not obtained a Firearm to Shoot The Affected Family Member.
I sat in on a case involving a Taxi Driver who contested a Female workmate's Intervention Order Application, The Woman's application was rejected by The Magistrate, but it only took 4 Days for the Woman to apply for another Intervention Order at The Same Court aginst the Same Person. Once again The application went to another Contested Hearing.
I was at Heidelberg Magistrate's Court when a defendant Contested an application for an Intervention Order for a second time, On Both Occassions the applicant failed to appear at court, it had cost the Defendant $3000 in Total to be represented at Both Hearings.
So why isn't this distortion of the Legal Process Stopped?????. Its Because their is no oversight by Court Staff, you simply make an application by filling in a form and away it Goes. These hearings have nothing to do with family Violence and are More Like The Jerry Springer Show.
No wonder there is a 48 Percent Increase in applications for Intervention Orders. Magistrate Ian Gray's Solution to the Problem is for the Government to spend more on court Resource's????. Are you Kidding!!!!.
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