Bail laws changed in Victoria state after deadly car crash
MELBOURNE: The Australian state of Victoria on Monday announced changes to its bail laws after five people were killed and over 30 injured last week when a man deliberately drove a car into pedestrians here in the country’s second largest city.
The incident, which police said was not terror-related, happened after lunchtime on Friday. An Indian woman IT professional is among over 30 people injured in the attack.
Nethra Krishnamurthy was seriously injured when she was run over by the speeding driver.
Suspect Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, was released by a bail justice against the wishes of police five days earlier.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said a new Night Court will be set up for magistrates to hear bail requests.
“All of us feel it. How could this have happened? How could such a tragedy have come to our city? How could so many lives end and so many lives change forever?” he said.
The changes mean magistrates will rule on after-hours bail applications for people charged with violent crimes, Andrews said.
Until now, Victoria has been the only jurisdiction in Australia to use volunteer bail justices rather than on-call magistrates for after-hours hearings.
Andrews also said the entire bail system would be reviewed by former Supreme Court of Victoria judge Paul Coghlan.
“We need to have a really close look at each and every element of our bail system, and we need to make profound change for the future to keep Victoria safe,” Andrews said.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has expressed frustration about the handling of bail cases.
“I think everyone that works in the system has issues with it from time to time,” he told the Herald Sun newspaper.
Ashton said Gargasoulas would face “multiple” murder charges once detectives were able to interview him.
The suspect was recovering from surgery after being shot in the arm by police before his arrest.
Police said Gargasoulas had been involved in an attack on his brother in a Melbourne suburb earlier on Friday.
As Australians mourned the tragedy, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined Andrews in attending a makeshift memorial set up at the scene. Victoria’s justice system has faced criticism in recent years following several high-profile cases, media reports said.