Bec Judd has taken another swipe at the authorities in Victoria as she vented her anger at violent offenders walking free.
The influencer is on a crusade to lower crime rates in Melbourne – particularly in her ritzy Bayside suburb – and is becoming a thorn in the side for Jacinta Allan’s state government.
In her latest spray, Bec expressed her anger that one of the youths involved in the kidnapping of teenager Benjamin Phikhohpoom in Melbourne that left him with permanent brain damage had walked free despite pleading guilty.
‘Victoria, this is not OK but sadly just another case of a violent offender let off because our laws are weak,’ Bec wrote on social media.
She then highlighted a reply she had received from one of her legion of followers, which said: ‘Maybe the victims need to take this to civil courts who will NOT be as lenient. And perhaps there could be a case against the judge in the civil court??!’
Bec continued: ‘I get hundreds of DM’s like this. People are so angry at magistrates but confused by the legal process. I would love a better understanding of how much a decision about a penalty is influenced by the law vs. the magistrate’s own discretion.
‘If you’re a legal expert and can explain this in lay terms so I can share with my audience, please slide into my DMs (I will protect identity). Victorians are angry. They are also confused by the decision making. Is government to blame, magistrates, Attorney-General etc.? Thank you.’
Benjamin suffered life-changing injuries when he was allegedly pulled into a stolen car by a group of three teenagers about 3.30pm outside Glen Eira College, in Melbourne’s southeast, last September.
Bec Judd has taken another swipe at the authorities in Victoria as she vented her anger at violent offenders walking free
A 15-year-old boy accused of being part of the alleged abduction and assault of schoolboy Benjamin Phikhohpoom (pictured) had serious charges dropped in return for a guilty plea
The group – two boys and a girl – were allegedly armed with machetes and demanded he hand over his phone and belongings.
He was then allegedly run over by the car and dragged for 150m before he was allegedly stabbed and then run over again when he was thrown from the vehicle.
Bystanders found Benjamin vomiting blood and he was rushed to hospital where he spent six days in a coma with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
However, a plea deal struck with prosecutors saw charges of intentionally causing serious injury and reckless conduct dropped.
Benjamin’s mother, Wannisa Srichan, said that while there had been some justice, the family were ‘still very sad about (the) outcome’.
‘What this boy did was very serious and it has affected my son so much,’ she told the Herald Sun.
‘I listened to the court case today and it was very hard … My son is still affected by this, he is struggling.
‘It’s been almost 10 months and we are so angry that our family has had to go through this, Benjamin did not deserve this.’
The teenage accused had spent 43 days remanded in custody before being bailed in October.
Benjamin spent six days in a coma (pictured) having suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain when he was dragged 150m from a stolen car driven by the group
Benjamin’s family said it was hard to hear the details of the plea in court
Last month, Bec slammed Melbourne as ‘woke, broke and violent’ after residents were encouraged to put Apple AirTags in their cars amid a crimewave in the city.
The footy WAG, who lives in a $7.3million mansion in Brighton, was drawn to comment on an interview between 3AW radio’s Jacqui Felgate and Sandringham Liberal MP, Brad Rowswell.
During the talk, Mr Rowswell was asked about a rise in violent crime in Melbourne’s suburbs.
The MP was asked about a suggestion at a community safety forum in Beaumaris last Thursday that residents consider placing AirTag trackers inside their cars in case they are stolen – something Judd took issue with.
‘Melbourne this is sad. Woke, broke and violent. I can’t believe we are living like this,’ Judd wrote online.
In March, Judd called out Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan after a home invasion in Bayside left an elderly man fighting for his life.
Three offenders broke into a home in Beaumaris, a stone’s throw from Judd’s mansion, where they attacked the man.
Jacinta Allan has come under pressure to make changes to sentencing laws
His wife, 75, who was also at home at the time, was not injured. Nothing was believed to be stolen.
‘Just another night in Victoria (yes, this is Bayside again but we know this happens everywhere),’ Judd told her Instagram followers at the time.
‘Jacinta Allan how are you still avoiding this? Let’s see how many of the alleged offenders are out on bail… Thoughts are with the victim in ICU and his poor wife.’
In June 2022, Judd said she felt ‘unsafe’ in her mansion and that she was ‘so sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside’.
‘I personally know two women who have experienced home invasions in Brighton in the last few weeks while they were at home,’ she said.
She also reposted CCTV footage of a gang of young men lurking outside properties in her affluent suburb and claimed it made her feel ‘unsafe’.
Last year she doubled down on her claim that Melbourne’s elite suburbs are under siege by criminals and ‘machete-wielding thugs’, calling for changes to youth offending laws.
She and her husband Chris share four children; daughter Billie, nine, son Oscar, 12, and twins Darcy and Tom, seven.
