The Killer Was Out on Bail

This story just seems to get worse. The ‘child’, the 16-year-old who is accused of murdering 70-year-old Vyleen White in an underground carpark in front of her six-year-old granddaughter and stealing her car, was out on bail for armed robbery, although the ABC report never mentioned the armed robbery part. According to the Courier Mail, the boy was on bail for multiple armed robbery offences at the time of the murder. He had been charged with three counts of armed robbery last year, and a court in its infinite wisdom granted him bail despite police opposing it. We wonder why youth crime is on the rise in Queensland – the system is clearly broken. What sort of message is this sending to teenage offenders? I just used a knife to rob a person or a shop – multiple times – I was caught by the police and appeared in court, but yet here I am out on the street again! The criminals must be laughing at this. Obviously this teenager who was out on bail for armed robbery and got caught soon after killing an innocent lady, isn’t a very good criminal. He gets caught so often. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame the police here. They’ve done an excellent job and have done everything they can. But yet, we keep letting him out – well, the courts keep letting him out. Let’s just keep letting criminals out until they murder someone. And who’s responsible for this? Well ultimately, the Government are responsible for creating laws. If the laws aren’t working, they need to fix them.

The daughter of Ms White, Cindy Micallef, commented on the sentencing restrictions for children: “I’ve been doing this movement for mum and I am on a mission to not just change laws but create new ones. The maximum in the juvenile detention centre sentencing is 10 years, they can still get out, have kids, have a life. They’ve still got a life to live. We’ve lost the heart of our lives.”

Of course, there’s been talk around the offenders being of African appearance, and as I said previously, we don’t want to tar the entire African community with the same brush. That would not be fair. Of course, academics will tell us that race is a human invention and not a biological fact. Okay, fine, but that’s ignoring real life. It might be a social construct, but it’s a social construct that has very real ramifications. Based on these recent events, there will be some proportion of Australians who may act differently when they see a group of youths of African appearance approach. I’m not saying that’s right, but we have to stay grounded in reality. Yes, if you’re an innocent person of African descent, and people start treating you differently because of your appearance, well yes, that sucks. I wouldn’t want to be in that situation either. But facts are facts. People still see people in terms of skin colour – not everyone – but many people do.

Ms White’s daughter stated, “I do not want there to be a vigilante squad on the African people. These people have come here to start a new life. Like all immigrants … they didn’t come here to start trouble.”

President of the Queensland African Communities Council, Beny Bol, stated, “We are a community under siege at the moment, because of that tragic incident. Over the last 24 hours I’ve received a large number of reports of people who are being physically attacked while going to work or shopping. I’ve had a story of a young African girl who went to the shop and saw someone throw something at her and say, ‘you’re monkeys, go back to where you came from’. The commentary on social media I can’t even talk about it. The level of stress that’s causing to the community, that’s unacceptable. Children are refusing to go to school because of the fear, too many people have been abused.”

So obviously, that’s completely wrong to abuse innocent people. But when people say that race doesn’t exist. When people pretend that the world is colourblind, they are simply wrong. They’re living a fiction.

The accused murderer is actually a Sudanese refugee according to media reports. Two of the other boys involved are actually private school students, with one having alleged links with a gang. The mother of the perpetrator who stabbed Ms White has spoken to the media and said, “I’m sorry to the community because I didn’t know that the kids do that. My son told me ‘I love you mum’ as police put him in handcuffs and led him away.”

Look, it’s a horrible situation all round, but the community are justifiably angry. We shouldn’t have to fear going to the local shopping centre to buy some groceries. This spate of youth violence has come to a head where an innocent person has been murdered. We pay taxes to the Government. We pay their salaries. This is happening on their watch. Sort it out!

MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn