JOSHUA Witt’s third chance to complete a community-based order over his rock throwing terror campaign has been described by a Victorian victims support group spokesman as “amazing and a nonsense”.
Steve Medcraft, a spokesman for People Against Lenient Sentences, said yesterday he wondered whether magistrate Reg Marron would have been so caring and understanding if his house was rocked.
Mr Medcraft described the rocking of houses in East Wodonga last year as “scary stuff, especially if you had young children”.
The community had every reason to be outraged by the pathetic sentence, especially considering police and some victims were advocating a jail term.
“There are no real consequences for his actions,” Mr Medcraft said.
“The community is sick and tired of our judiciary pandering to the whims of the guilty and finding ways to soften the impact of their crimes.
“The old saying of ‘do the crime, do the time’ now seems to be a relic of the past as social justice for the guilty is far more important than punishment.”
Mr Medcraft questioned whether magistrates were being directed by a higher authority to keep people out of jail due to insufficient places or were they totally out of touch with what the community expected of them with sentencing.
He was made aware yesterday of the details of Witt’s sentencing in Wodonga Magistrates Court.
Mr Medcraft said it was claimed that Witt was fearful to perform community work after receiving threatening text messages from his brothers.
But it was suggested by Mr Medcraft that Witt was “scared of work”.
Witt was fined $800 and ordered to recommence his 250 hours of community work by Mr Marron after failing to perform more than six hours’ work.
Department of Justice Spokesman Bob Parkinson said leniency was extended to Witt in the past after he faced court for breaching his original community order last September.
It took massive police resources, including a helicopter, to keep the area where rocking was happening under surveillance before Witt was finally arrested and charged.
Police originally foreshadowed a claim for $40,000 compensation against Witt but it was rejected by Mr Marron.
People Against Lenient Sentences was formed in the early 1990s after the murder of several young women by Paul Denyer in Frankston and the subsequent lenient sentence he received, which amounted to 10 years for each murder.
Residents were outraged and decided to rally against it.
The organisation has expanded over the years with Mr Medcraft fighting for better deals for victims of crime and appropriate sentencing.
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