CHILLING RISE IN ICE CASES

ICE crime has surged 2000 per cent in a decade as the drug passes cannabis cases as the most common in the courts.

A bombshell report from the Sentencing Advisory Council, obtained by News Corp, has exposed the 20-fold increase in the level of ice cases before the state’s magistrates courts.

It shows an alarming rise in ice-related charges over the past decade, jumping from 263 in 2007-08 to 5712 in 2016-17.

The report focused on minor offending, mainly possession and use counts.

The statistics show ice has also for the first time become Victoria’s most common minor offence drug, accounting for more than a third (36 per cent) of all minor offences, overtaking cannabis (33 per cent) as the most common type of drug involved in minor drug offences.

Almost 120,000 minor drug charges have been laid since June 2007, with 16,937 recorded in the 2016-17 financial year alone.

The 70-page report, prepared for the Department of Justice, concluded the ice stats were: “A concerning finding for the community, given the violence often thought to be associated with the use of the drug.”

The SAC study does not include the other crimes fuelled by ice — including robberies, burglaries, carjackings and home invasions — which would push the total much higher.

But it does reveal how minor drug charges were accompanied by other offences in four out of five cases.

Common associated offences were deception, bail breaches and road matters.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said his members had never seen a drug with the damaging impact of ice.

“Ice is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to influencers of crime and impact on our members in virtually every aspect of policing,” Mr Gatt said.