00:00:00
Speaker 1: This next story makes my blood boil. I was reading it yesterday. And even though the perpetrators in question did spend significant time and by significant I mean up to about three months time in prison awaiting the outcome, well, a court in its wisdom has decided that these two young offenders, Spencer john Wood and Tyler MacDonald, who are now aged nineteen, they were on meth and they were drunk when they robbed two on the run petrol stations in Adelaide's western suburbs in March of last year. There was a third youth with them who still hasn't been found by the police, which begs the question as to what level of cooperation the two guys who are actually pinched for it have provided two police So they were armed with axes and they went out to these surveys in the middle of the night. They threatened the staff, They demanded that they opened the door. Then they barged in there with acts. They threatened them and then they stole all of the cash that was in the till now. Since then, one of the young men who was working there doing the late shift in the surveys. In one of these surveys, he told the court that he's so traumatized from this that he's now struggling to work. It's done him immense financial hardship. He's lost his confidence. He's a nervous wreck for the crime of robbing not one, but two server stations with an axe. The two offenders whose names I mentioned before have been given not a custodial sentence. They've been given their entire sentence is to be served on home detention. Now, I think a lot of people who work in retail will be wondering whether that sends enough of a signal. And in this case, the judge said that the reason that she decided not to give them custody or sentences is because they were so young. Well, I think a lot of people would look at this and go, that's exactly the wrong sort of message. If there's anything that these offenders do need, it's to actually be shown that this kind of conduct A will not be tolerated and b does come with much more serious consequences. Josh Peak is the secretary of the retail union, the shop distributive in Alloyed Employees Association, and we've got him on the line. Now, Josh, this is far too common for your members, isn't it. This seems to happen at least on a weekly basis in this state. Are we sending enough of a signal that it's that it's not to be tolerated.
00:02:34
Speaker 2: Well, good morning and thanks having me on. Look, this sort of incident is terrifying, and it's important to remember that these are not victimless crimes. It's absolutely awful for those people that have to experience it, and you've been read putting it before the sort of lifelong impacts it can have on people, and I think many and I don't want to I haven't read the judge that I don't want to reflect specifically on this exact case, but I think generally speaking, the penalties are there, the penalties are there to be used, and I think a lot of our members and the community really do want to see the judiciary use those penalties to send a really clear message to the community and any other five out there who thinks it's a good idea one night to go and hold up a servo that this sort of behavior has incredibly serious consequences and it won't be tolerated.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: In the most recent police statistics from November, the Rolling Statistics robbery was down four percent. Now a lot of people critical of those statistics. Do you think, well, yes, maybe these types of offenses are decreasing, they're becoming more and more brazen towards retail workers.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: Well, we're certainly hardened by the later founal crime statistics and we're seeing not just robbery down, but also they're from shop down considerably. You know, we've been engaged in a conservative effort with the Datish Running police and the state government to really tackle this this type of crime, and that's that's pleasing, but we we do have ongoing concerns about how exposed and dangerous late night retire whether it's serve stations or bottlestops are and you know, people working a lot, we're working alone with easy access you know, does cause cause problems. And we do see a lot of offenders deciding how to target these types of establishments because they are seen as a toss, as a soft target. And we've got really really significant report out about this about things that can be done, particularly around target hardening, making those actual workplaces safer so that people always have somewhere safe to go, to make sure that it doesn't matter what the retail establishment is or what the workplace is. People deserve a safe workplace and they don't deserve to go to work wondering if this is going to happen for them tonight.
00:04:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Josh. I was going to ask whether whether there's more that can be done. And you know, I'm not saying the owners for this needs to fall on the on the employer, but given given its prevalence, and we know that a lot of surveys have now put in like you know, like a night window where after like say ten pm, if you're going there to buy some milk or something like that, you've got to go up to the window. You can't just wander into the shop. But in a case like this, it looks like that was something that just because these people were so so bloody violent, they managed to circumvent that by just terrorizing the staff.
00:05:29
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, look, I mean we are pretty clear that night windows should be something that's compulsory, particularly when there's only one worker working, and that I think will provide a lot of ash additional safety. We also want to make sure there's always an exit point that you can never have a situation where worker is trapped with a perpetrator in a store, and they're two physical things that can absolutely be changed. You know. We do think that there is a role for greater security, in particular high resive stublishment. So there's a number of things that can be done, you know, and we're going to continue to work with employers. We do excellent engagement with the retailers in South Australia who do take safety pretty sir seriously. But the target hardening, making sure that high value wide are secured, making sure that cash is difficult to access. These are the sorts of physical things that can be done. Basically, stop the incentive for work for people out there to go and hold up these types of establishment.
00:06:32
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:32
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Josh Peak, the Secretary of the SDA, thanks for joining us.
00:06:36
Speaker 2: This is makes so much.
00:06:37
Speaker 1: This is what Judge Lisa Dunlop said in her sensing remarks. And I'm not having to crack at the judge because this is for good or for real what the people say, for for real. This is the way sentencing works. It's the way the courts work where they take into account what's happened, but then they have to look at prior behavior by the offenders and so forth. But I will still ask the question as to whether we get the balance right in cases like this, because the judge does a terrific job her honor in outlining the impact that it's had on the victim. She said, Mister Genala, this is the name of the victim. He's a young guy, was just doing his job, but has now been left with lasting impacts. She said, mister Janala had moved to Australia to study, in the work and to quote make a better future for himself and his family. He had a right to be at work without being threatened. In those moments that you did what you did, he was thinking about whether he was ever going to see his family again. Your actions on that day have impacted his confidence, his physical and mental health, and effect that his studies and his work because of you, he's struggling financially. He will continue to struggle with the impacts of your actions of that night for a long time to come. And yet one hundred percent. But then, Judge Dunlop said Wood and McDonald's young age and limited history of involvement in the criminal justice system was considered when sentencing them to home detention. I don't see how that first set of excellent remarks create comfortably with the conclusion that's drawn.
00:08:06
Speaker 3: No, And I think this is the all too common side that we're seeing every day coming from courts.
00:08:11
Speaker 1: Well, people will think that the message it sends is that the ultimate penalty for running around threatening to kill people than acts in the middle of the night is a couple of years sitting around in the comfort of your home. On home detentions disgusting
Speaker 1: This next story makes my blood boil. I was reading it yesterday. And even though the perpetrators in question did spend significant time and by significant I mean up to about three months time in prison awaiting the outcome, well, a court in its wisdom has decided that these two young offenders, Spencer john Wood and Tyler MacDonald, who are now aged nineteen, they were on meth and they were drunk when they robbed two on the run petrol stations in Adelaide's western suburbs in March of last year. There was a third youth with them who still hasn't been found by the police, which begs the question as to what level of cooperation the two guys who are actually pinched for it have provided two police So they were armed with axes and they went out to these surveys in the middle of the night. They threatened the staff, They demanded that they opened the door. Then they barged in there with acts. They threatened them and then they stole all of the cash that was in the till now. Since then, one of the young men who was working there doing the late shift in the surveys. In one of these surveys, he told the court that he's so traumatized from this that he's now struggling to work. It's done him immense financial hardship. He's lost his confidence. He's a nervous wreck for the crime of robbing not one, but two server stations with an axe. The two offenders whose names I mentioned before have been given not a custodial sentence. They've been given their entire sentence is to be served on home detention. Now, I think a lot of people who work in retail will be wondering whether that sends enough of a signal. And in this case, the judge said that the reason that she decided not to give them custody or sentences is because they were so young. Well, I think a lot of people would look at this and go, that's exactly the wrong sort of message. If there's anything that these offenders do need, it's to actually be shown that this kind of conduct A will not be tolerated and b does come with much more serious consequences. Josh Peak is the secretary of the retail union, the shop distributive in Alloyed Employees Association, and we've got him on the line. Now, Josh, this is far too common for your members, isn't it. This seems to happen at least on a weekly basis in this state. Are we sending enough of a signal that it's that it's not to be tolerated.
00:02:34
Speaker 2: Well, good morning and thanks having me on. Look, this sort of incident is terrifying, and it's important to remember that these are not victimless crimes. It's absolutely awful for those people that have to experience it, and you've been read putting it before the sort of lifelong impacts it can have on people, and I think many and I don't want to I haven't read the judge that I don't want to reflect specifically on this exact case, but I think generally speaking, the penalties are there, the penalties are there to be used, and I think a lot of our members and the community really do want to see the judiciary use those penalties to send a really clear message to the community and any other five out there who thinks it's a good idea one night to go and hold up a servo that this sort of behavior has incredibly serious consequences and it won't be tolerated.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: In the most recent police statistics from November, the Rolling Statistics robbery was down four percent. Now a lot of people critical of those statistics. Do you think, well, yes, maybe these types of offenses are decreasing, they're becoming more and more brazen towards retail workers.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: Well, we're certainly hardened by the later founal crime statistics and we're seeing not just robbery down, but also they're from shop down considerably. You know, we've been engaged in a conservative effort with the Datish Running police and the state government to really tackle this this type of crime, and that's that's pleasing, but we we do have ongoing concerns about how exposed and dangerous late night retire whether it's serve stations or bottlestops are and you know, people working a lot, we're working alone with easy access you know, does cause cause problems. And we do see a lot of offenders deciding how to target these types of establishments because they are seen as a toss, as a soft target. And we've got really really significant report out about this about things that can be done, particularly around target hardening, making those actual workplaces safer so that people always have somewhere safe to go, to make sure that it doesn't matter what the retail establishment is or what the workplace is. People deserve a safe workplace and they don't deserve to go to work wondering if this is going to happen for them tonight.
00:04:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Josh. I was going to ask whether whether there's more that can be done. And you know, I'm not saying the owners for this needs to fall on the on the employer, but given given its prevalence, and we know that a lot of surveys have now put in like you know, like a night window where after like say ten pm, if you're going there to buy some milk or something like that, you've got to go up to the window. You can't just wander into the shop. But in a case like this, it looks like that was something that just because these people were so so bloody violent, they managed to circumvent that by just terrorizing the staff.
00:05:29
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, look, I mean we are pretty clear that night windows should be something that's compulsory, particularly when there's only one worker working, and that I think will provide a lot of ash additional safety. We also want to make sure there's always an exit point that you can never have a situation where worker is trapped with a perpetrator in a store, and they're two physical things that can absolutely be changed. You know. We do think that there is a role for greater security, in particular high resive stublishment. So there's a number of things that can be done, you know, and we're going to continue to work with employers. We do excellent engagement with the retailers in South Australia who do take safety pretty sir seriously. But the target hardening, making sure that high value wide are secured, making sure that cash is difficult to access. These are the sorts of physical things that can be done. Basically, stop the incentive for work for people out there to go and hold up these types of establishment.
00:06:32
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:32
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Josh Peak, the Secretary of the SDA, thanks for joining us.
00:06:36
Speaker 2: This is makes so much.
00:06:37
Speaker 1: This is what Judge Lisa Dunlop said in her sensing remarks. And I'm not having to crack at the judge because this is for good or for real what the people say, for for real. This is the way sentencing works. It's the way the courts work where they take into account what's happened, but then they have to look at prior behavior by the offenders and so forth. But I will still ask the question as to whether we get the balance right in cases like this, because the judge does a terrific job her honor in outlining the impact that it's had on the victim. She said, Mister Genala, this is the name of the victim. He's a young guy, was just doing his job, but has now been left with lasting impacts. She said, mister Janala had moved to Australia to study, in the work and to quote make a better future for himself and his family. He had a right to be at work without being threatened. In those moments that you did what you did, he was thinking about whether he was ever going to see his family again. Your actions on that day have impacted his confidence, his physical and mental health, and effect that his studies and his work because of you, he's struggling financially. He will continue to struggle with the impacts of your actions of that night for a long time to come. And yet one hundred percent. But then, Judge Dunlop said Wood and McDonald's young age and limited history of involvement in the criminal justice system was considered when sentencing them to home detention. I don't see how that first set of excellent remarks create comfortably with the conclusion that's drawn.
00:08:06
Speaker 3: No, And I think this is the all too common side that we're seeing every day coming from courts.
00:08:11
Speaker 1: Well, people will think that the message it sends is that the ultimate penalty for running around threatening to kill people than acts in the middle of the night is a couple of years sitting around in the comfort of your home. On home detentions disgusting
