NEWS DESK
Police concerns over gangs coming south Continued from Page 1 Frankston Embona Detective Sergeant Marty O’Brien said gangs with names such as Apex, Y2K and YKK were making life “very busy” for detectives. He said racially linked members coming to Frankston from Dandenong and Narre Warren – some aged as young as 13 – were a “huge problem”. “Crimes by these groups have risen 10-fold over the past few years,” he said. “And 90 per cent of it relates to the Polynesians. “They get straight off the plane and are straight into it. We know who they are but we can’t do much about them.” Police are frustrated by lights sentences handed down by the courts. “One guy charged with 14 counts of armed robbery was granted bail,” Detective Sergeant O’Brien said. “Why a court would even entertain the idea of bail I don’t know.” A Melbourne police taskforce formed to tackle the threat from gangs has charged more than 70 young men over a six-month crime spree, including crimes in Frankston and on the peninsula. The youths, aged 14-24, were charged with more than 400 serious offences ranging from armed robbery to commercial burglary, car theft, driving offences and illegal gun possession. The six-month police investigation, established to target mid-level organised crime, revealed that two syndicates based in Melbourne’s northern suburbs had targeted department stores and tobacconists all the way down to Frankston.
Three violent thieves, who police later identified as gang members, raided two 24-hour service stations, at Dromana and Rosebud, on 29 July. The trio, with one member aged 15, stormed counters and terrorised staff with an axe and a handgun in the early morning raids. CCTV footage shows them smashing glass counters, destroying computer equipment, rifling cupboards and pointing a handgun in the face of the lone attendant – before repeating the viciousness 15 minutes later at the next service station. Money and cigarettes were stolen at both premises. Six of the gang were apprehended within the week and the youngest is now out on bail. Their arrests form part of a bigger picture, with up to 25 offenders nabbed over a spate of aggravated burglaries, vandalism, thefts from and of cars, deceptions, petrol drive offs and armed robberies across the southern suburbs in the past few weeks. “They knew each other and were acting together; there was definitely a level of planning and organisation,” Frankston Embona Detective Sergeant Alistair Hanson said. The same gang is believed responsible for smashing up to 25 car windscreens and rear and side windows in Cheltenham. Two vandals in two cars used golf clubs and a hammer to smash the windows of cars parked in streets off Centre Dandenong Rd, causing $25,000 damage. Other cars were damaged in Armadale and Caulfield.
Room to hop: A rabbit eradication program at the Briars Park wildlife sanctuary will see more room and food for Australian species like this eastern grey kangaroo. Picture: Yanni
Shooters called to rabbit cull RABBIT numbers in Mt Martha’s Briars Park wildlife sanctuary are goind down as eradication action continues. Mornington Peninsula Shire rangers closed the sanctuary to the public on 25 August and it is expected to reopen on Monday 23 September. Park staff are making a determined attempt to rid the sanctuary of rabbits, which have existed inside the predator-proof fence since it was erected. Several attempts have been made
Morven Manor •
in recent years but this effort is the most comprehensive with eradication techniques including filling in burrows to force rabbits into the open, allowing members of the Sporting Shooters’ Association to cull them at night (more than 130 killed so far) and other techniques, with attention given to meeting various codes of practice. A shire spokesman said it was hoped the project would completely eradicate rabbits in the sanctuary with an end goal of “having a new conservation approach involving a
RETIREMENT VILLAGE
Steeped in local history and ideally located in the heart of Mornington, Morven Manor is relaxed and connected retirement living. UNIT 35 • FOR SALE
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$380,000*
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focus on native Australian threatened species”. If the cull goes well, the sanctuary could be opened before 23 September, the spokesman said. Walks outside the sanctuary are unaffected. They include Balcombe Creek Walkway (which continues under the Nepean Highway bridge to Balcombe Estuary); the Harrap Creek Walk, which links to other walks and continues to Civic Reserve in Dunns Rd; and a short walk along Stockleys Creek. Mike Hast
OPEN FOR INSPEC TION Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm
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BONUS Upon purchase of this unit,,** receive either: • A $1000 VISA debit car ard or • Fortnightly two hou ur home cleaning for six monthss
7 7 TA N T I A V E N U E , M O R N I N G T O N |
morvenmanor.com.au | 1300 160 170
* Prices are correct at time of printing and are subject to change. Australian Unity Retirement Living Services Limited ACN 085 317 595 Level 14, 114 Albert Road South Melbourne, Victoria 3205.
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Mornington News 8 September 2015
** Valid upon settlement of Unit 35 only.