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Torching vehicles used in serious crimes, firebombing businesses and recruiting children to engage in criminal activity will receive harsher prison sentences as part of a suite of reforms to be introduced by the NSW government to curb a wave of gang violence.
The reforms come after a series of increasingly brazen violence as gangs jostle for control of Sydney’s streets. This included the alleged abduction, torture and murder of Chris Baghsarian, an 85-year-old grandfather mistakenly snatched from his home in North Ryde.
Under the legislation being introduced into parliament on Tuesday, a new offence will be created for destroying a vehicle by fire that has been used to commit a serious crime, punishable by up to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The network of vehicles used to perpetrate gang violence has become known as “kill cars”. NSW Police have identified the use and torching of these cars as being integral to the operation of gang violence across Sydney.
“The use of kill cars has emerged as a common denominator in serious and violent crimes linked to organised crime, including murders, kidnappings and other high-risk offences,” NSW Police’s organised crime squad commander Peter Faux said last year.
The recruitment of children to engage in criminal activity will also be targeted through the creation of new offences and tougher penalties, with the maximum penalty increasing to 12 years’ jail.
That punishment will reach 15 years if a child is used for motor vehicle theft or serious criminal activity linked to organised crime, both considered aggravated offences. The 15-year maximum penalty will also apply if the accused is under 16.
Firing a pistol or prohibited firearm in public will now receive a maximum 14 years’ imprisonment, while the harshest penalty for firing at a dwelling or building will be increased to 18 years and expanded to include shooting at vehicles.
An additional offence, punishable by up to 14 years’ jail, will be created to target firebombing.
A barbershop in Warwick Farm was the latest business destroyed by firebombing after being allegedly targeted by the Alameddine family last month, claimed to be a retaliatory strike after a towing business linked to the gang in Wetherill Park was torched.
Attorney-General Michael Daley said important changes to the state’s bail framework would augment the ability of courts to consider organised-crime links when deciding if an accused should be remanded until trial.
“These comprehensive reforms will help keep the community safe, and hold organised criminals to account for the destruction and harm they inflict on our streets,” he said.
“We are cracking down on gangs who put the community at risk with public shootings and firebombings, and tackling the use of stolen ‘kill cars’ to facilitate these crimes.”
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