Tuesday, 26 November 2024

Bail laws

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:52): (1304) My adjournment is for the Attorney-General, and the action that I seek is for the government to commit to strengthening the laws around bail as a matter of urgency. On 7 October Isla Bell was murdered. Her body was missing for around seven weeks. Last week two men were charged over the incident, one with murder and one with assisting an offender. Yesterday the man who was accused of helping move and dispose of Isla’s body was released on bail while awaiting trial. I make no comment on the man’s guilt or innocence; I simply want to acknowledge the circumstances that exist while he was granted bail: (1) police alleged this man was a flight risk as he had booked a plane ticket to Bulgaria after first speaking with police; (2) the police stated the way in which the applicant treated the body of the deceased – that is, by moving the body in a fridge – was very serious; (3) police told the court that the accused led an extravagant lifestyle, with unexplained wealth, and had three bank accounts, two phones and a room full of designer clothing; (4) police stated that it would not be difficult for the accused to assume another identity; and (5) prosecutors also pointed out that the accused had a history of offending, posed a risk to the community and could interfere with witnesses in the case, some of whom had already expressed their concern to the police.

While considering bail, the magistrate said that the alleged conduct of the accused was callous and repugnant and acknowledged that there was some level of flight risk. Yet the accused was still granted bail with few conditions, including that he surrender his passport and not leave metro Melbourne and that he fund the electronic monitoring device designed to prevent him from going within 200 metres of the addresses of potential witnesses. Given the concerns of the police and the potential witnesses about the accused in the case, I ask the government to take action and reinstate the law that made it an offence for a person to breach bail conditions.