8 homicides were Committed By people who were the Subject Of Intervention Orders. In 2007-2008, 4 people died who were supposed to be Protected by An intervention Order. In 11 Incidents the perpetrator or Victim had contact wth the Police or the Courts, only 6 Months before the death occurred.The Report goes on To State The Ridiculously Obvious.
IT IS EVIDENT THAT AN INTERVENTION ORDER DOES NOT RESULT IN AN END TO VIOLENCE.
With Due Respect to Judge Coates, The Victorian Corrections System Could not even Protect CARL WILLIAMS in a High Security Victorian Prison. How Does Judge Coates think a Piece of Paper handed to an AFM is Really Going to Protect Them from Violence. All Great in Theory but in Practice its a lot of Baloney.
Whenever a Tragic Death Takes Place, We have The Usual Police Spokesman Sprout to the News Media That Police are Going To take a Strong Stance against Domestic Violence, But Predictably all this Means Nothing. If a Victim calls 000 The police AREN'T Going to Immediately come to the Damsel's Aid as in Some John Wayne Western. The bottom Line is Either The Victim Defends Themselves or Some Brave Bystander Or Neighbor Comes to the rescue.
In the Kara Douglas And Christopher Wayne Hudson Case, It was a Very Brave Lawyer Brendan Keller and Dutch Backpacker Paul De Waard who Stepped Forward and said No to Violence against Women. Tragically Brendan Keller was Killed in Broad daylight in the Melbourne CBD.
We also Have Politicians Then Coming Forward and saying we are going to Introduce Tougher Legislation To Combat Domestic Violence and quote The Usual Statistics to back up Their Concern. Governments have Done This Many Times with Very Little Results.
We Then Get Down To the Judicial System In Victoria who say we are Going to Get Tough and Jail Men who Breech Intervention Orders, But What a Brainless Solution That Really Is. They Place Men In Prison's who then Mix with Criminals who have access to all sorts of Weapons, Shotgun's etc. The Court may make the Defendant a Prohibited Person, But That means Nothing To The Prison Inmate. Just go and see my mate when you get released from Prison he'll Fix you up with a Firearm.
The Defendant is Released from Prison and there are no Checks by police To make sure The Defendant Hasn't Obtained a Firearm. If the defendant Knows where the Protected Person Lives, They are a Sitting Duck. The Court System has Ignited a Situation that Shouldn't Happen and Then Sends The Defendant to a place Guaranteed to Supply an Illegal Firearm, No Permit Required.
For Some Very Odd Reason, Magistrates and Registrars in Victorian Magistrate's Courts Then think The Answer is to Just Give EVERYBODY an Intervention Order, Just go along to The registrar's Counter Fill in a form, Make a Complaint that will be automatically accepted as True & Correct, The magistrate will then Suggest to The Defendant To consent without admitting to The allegations made In the Order. The Defendant does this because it will cost at least $600 in Legal Fee's to Contest The order. Getting an Intervention Order In Victoria is as easy as Getting a Big Mac at a McDonald's Outlet and its even Cheaper, It Costs You Nothing.
I Have Heard Magistrate Bolster say to AFM's In His Courts, If there is a breech Of the Order, call the police and They Will Become Involved. Unfortunately, Mr Bolster,The Real world is Not That Simple, it may work on Non Violent Defendants, But if somebody is Determined to Harm Somebody, The Intervention Order you have issued will Not work. Yes the Police will become involved but Tragically that will be after you're Seriously wounded or DEAD.
Fiona Warzywoda went to the Sunshine Magistrates Court about an intervention order but was tragically killed after leaving the Court and going to her Solicitors Office.
An audiotape of Rosie Batty was aired on Television where she was extremely Distressed appearing before a Magistrate at Frankston Magistrate's Court, where she was told to sit down by the Magistrate. Her son Like Batty was later Killed by his Father. Today everybody wants to listen to what Rosie Batty and what she has to say about Domestic Violence, she was also made Australian of the Year. I wonder what the Frankston Magistrates Court would say to her Today.???.
What happens is Magistrate's now issue final orders for any applications for intervention Orders so that they cover their backs in case anybody is hurt or killed. This defeats the purpose for those Women & Children who are in real Danger from Domestic Violence.
