The devastating effects of youth crime have taken centre stage in Australia, with reports of carjackings, home invasions, fatal collisions and violent public attacks, all at the hands of young people.

In a bid to uncover what could be done to fix the country's growing youth crime crisis, Karl Stefanovic conducted an emotional interview with victims of youth crime and their grieving families on the Today Show.

Karl Stefanovic was seen choking back tears while delivering a special report into the youth crime crisis that’s sweeping across the country. The interview comprised victims, frontline officers and politicians.

During the segment, guests were invited to share their stories with the journalist. One of them was former Queensland Police Superintendent Jim Keogh.

According to him, the crisis was the ‘worst it had ever been’ during his 38-year career.

The interview was done to address the youth crime crisis that’s becoming a nationwide problem. Credit: Afta Putta Gunawan/Pexels

‘There have always been elements of problems…now you’re besieged with youth crime,’ he said before adding that the removal of bail laws is ‘one of the catalysts’ for the ongoing crisis.

Then, Karl spoke with the victims ‘all robbed of a loved one’ who shared some of the most horrific incidents involving youth perpetrators and how this has affected their lives.

Ann and Russell Field discussed a deeply personal story of their ongoing grief and trauma brought on by the loss of their son Matthew in January 2021. Matthew, his partner Kate, and their unborn baby, Miles, were killed after their car was struck by a tow truck. The truck had previously collided with a stolen car being driven by a teenager before it struck Matthew and his family.

According to the incident report, the teenager driving the stolen vehicle was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time.

‘Since then, there have been multiple cars…probably thousands of cars, that have been stolen and multiple deaths,’ Mr Field shared.

The interviewees discussed personal stories of trauma. Credit: The Today Show/Facebook

Ms Field hoped that no one else would go through what she and her husband went through but stated that there would be more victims. The pair agreed that their family wouldn’t be ‘the last’ to be affected by such crimes.

‘We’re not the first, and we’re not the last. It’ll continue on until something concrete is done,’ Mr Field said.

For Brett and Belinda Beasley, whose teen son Jack was stabbed to death in a fight in Surfers Paradise in 2019, the introduction of Jack’s Law has given police better search powers to try and lower the rate of knife crime in Queensland.

Jack’s Law was named in honour of Jack Beasley. Under this law, police now have the authority to randomly stop and search people for knives and other weapons on public transport and in nightclub precincts across the state.

However, critics say this hasn’t made a difference to the punishments handed down to youths convicted of their crimes, which families of the victims said ‘aren’t tough enough’.

‘They say it's not a reflection on your child's life, but it is,’ Ms Beasley told Karl.

She continued: ‘He killed our son. I just don't understand why the kids are going out doing what they're doing. It just affects so many people, the police, the first responders, the ambulance, and witnesses. All these people suffer all the time from what they have to see. It's just not fair.’

Bill Potts, Former Director of the Australian Law Council and a Criminal Lawyer, told the TV presenter that it was ‘hard’ to argue with the perception that the country’s judicial system is too soft on youth perpetrators.

However, he said raising penalties and ‘jailing our way out of trouble’ won’t work either.

‘We don't sentence people on the basis of anger. There are a large number of things that must be taken into account. A ten-year-old doesn't wake up one day and say, “I'm going to become a criminal, I'll become a murderer”,’ he explained.

At this moment, Karl started to become emotional. He said that as someone who often interviews victims and families affected by these crimes, he couldn’t help but wonder about what he would do if he were in their shoes.

‘Bill, I'm a parent. I’m sorry, you're certainly not under trial here, but I am a parent, and if it happened to my kid, I'd want that, whomever it was locked up forever,’ he replied.

‘At best,’ he added.

You can watch a snippet of the interview below:

​

Key Takeaways

• Karl Stefanovic broke down during an emotional interview about youth crime, speaking to victims of violence and their bereaved families.
• Former Queensland police superintendent Jim Keogh told Karl that the crisis was the worst it had ever been during his 38-year career, mentioning the removal of bail laws as 'one of the catalysts' for the problem.
• Karl spoke with 'victims all robbed of a loved one', recounting some of the most horrifying recent incidents involving youth perpetrators that have made headlines across the country.
• Karl later choked back tears as he talked through possible solutions with Bill Potts, former director of the Australian Law Council, who said, 'raising penalties and jailing our way out of trouble is not going to work'.

Our thoughts and heart go out to the grieving families who have been devastated by these tragedies. Do you have any comments or thoughts about Karl’s segment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

[joany]

Compulsory conscription for all young people from 15 to 18 no exception.

 

[Bernice S]

The devastating effects of youth crime have taken centre stage in Australia, with reports of carjackings, home invasions, fatal collisions and violent public attacks, all at the hands of young people.

In a bid to uncover what could be done to fix the country's growing youth crime crisis, Karl Stefanovic conducted an emotional interview with victims of youth crime and their grieving families on the Today Show.

Karl Stefanovic was seen choking back tears while delivering a special report into the youth crime crisis that’s sweeping across the country. The interview comprised victims, frontline officers and politicians.

During the segment, guests were invited to share their stories with the journalist. One of them was former Queensland Police Superintendent Jim Keogh.

According to him, the crisis was the ‘worst it had ever been’ during his 38-year career.

View attachment 19375

The interview was done to address the youth crime crisis that’s becoming a nationwide problem. Credit: Afta Putta Gunawan/Pexels

‘There have always been elements of problems…now you’re besieged with youth crime,’ he said before adding that the removal of bail laws is ‘one of the catalysts’ for the ongoing crisis.

Then, Karl spoke with the victims ‘all robbed of a loved one’ who shared some of the most horrific incidents involving youth perpetrators and how this has affected their lives.

Ann and Russell Field discussed a deeply personal story of their ongoing grief and trauma brought on by the loss of their son Matthew in January 2021. Matthew, his partner Kate, and their unborn baby, Miles, were killed after their car was struck by a tow truck. The truck had previously collided with a stolen car being driven by a teenager before it struck Matthew and his family.

According to the incident report, the teenager driving the stolen vehicle was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time.

‘Since then, there have been multiple cars…probably thousands of cars, that have been stolen and multiple deaths,’ Mr Field shared.

View attachment 19377

The interviewees discussed personal stories of trauma. Credit: The Today Show/Facebook

Ms Field hoped that no one else would go through what she and her husband went through but stated that there would be more victims. The pair agreed that their family wouldn’t be ‘the last’ to be affected by such crimes.

‘We’re not the first, and we’re not the last. It’ll continue on until something concrete is done,’ Mr Field said.

For Brett and Belinda Beasley, whose teen son Jack was stabbed to death in a fight in Surfers Paradise in 2019, the introduction of Jack’s Law has given police better search powers to try and lower the rate of knife crime in Queensland.

Jack’s Law was named in honour of Jack Beasley. Under this law, police now have the authority to randomly stop and search people for knives and other weapons on public transport and in nightclub precincts across the state.

However, critics say this hasn’t made a difference to the punishments handed down to youths convicted of their crimes, which families of the victims said ‘aren’t tough enough’.

‘They say it's not a reflection on your child's life, but it is,’ Ms Beasley told Karl.

She continued: ‘He killed our son. I just don't understand why the kids are going out doing what they're doing. It just affects so many people, the police, the first responders, the ambulance, and witnesses. All these people suffer all the time from what they have to see. It's just not fair.’

Bill Potts, Former Director of the Australian Law Council and a Criminal Lawyer, told the TV presenter that it was ‘hard’ to argue with the perception that the country’s judicial system is too soft on youth perpetrators.

However, he said raising penalties and ‘jailing our way out of trouble’ won’t work either.

‘We don't sentence people on the basis of anger. There are a large number of things that must be taken into account. A ten-year-old doesn't wake up one day and say, “I'm going to become a criminal, I'll become a murderer”,’ he explained.

At this moment, Karl started to become emotional. He said that as someone who often interviews victims and families affected by these crimes, he couldn’t help but wonder about what he would do if he were in their shoes.

‘Bill, I'm a parent. I’m sorry, you're certainly not under trial here, but I am a parent, and if it happened to my kid, I'd want that, whomever it was locked up forever,’ he replied.

‘At best,’ he added.

You can watch a snippet of the interview below:

​

Key Takeaways

• Karl Stefanovic broke down during an emotional interview about youth crime, speaking to victims of violence and their bereaved families.
• Former Queensland police superintendent Jim Keogh told Karl that the crisis was the worst it had ever been during his 38-year career, mentioning the removal of bail laws as 'one of the catalysts' for the problem.
• Karl spoke with 'victims all robbed of a loved one', recounting some of the most horrifying recent incidents involving youth perpetrators that have made headlines across the country.
• Karl later choked back tears as he talked through possible solutions with Bill Potts, former director of the Australian Law Council, who said, 'raising penalties and jailing our way out of trouble is not going to work'.

Our thoughts and heart go out to the grieving families who have been devastated by these tragedies. Do you have any comments or thoughts about Karl’s segment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

This segment says it all. This is what most people are thinking. How can this be ignored? Why isn't our judicial system being held accountable for these preventable crimes and who will fix this mess. I think that if some of these do-gooders who make excuses for criminals were made accountable for the consequences of their leniency then laws would toughen up. It's time that the victims of crime were given more rights than the criminals. Name and shame!!!

 

[Marj53]

The laws are just too soft. It's not just in Qld either. We seem to be having problems with gangs of youths down herein Tassie too. I think these youths have been watching too many American shows with gang violence in them.

 

[MariaG]

Many years ago, my nephew did something wrong. Wasn't violent, but it was wrong.
My older sister, upon finding out about this, dragged him by the ear to the police station and said, he did this and needs to be punished. He was.
He is now a find man in his 40's with 3 kids of his own. Works hard to put a roof over their heads and food in their mouths. I am proud of the way he took responsibility for his stupidity and realised he had to change his behaviour. He speaks of that incident openly, and admits to anyone who will listen, if his mum had not done what she did, life would be so different for him and he would most likely be either behind bars, or dead to us all.
I don't think this kind of thing is an easy fix. I often ask people I know, do you know where your kids are and what they are doing right now? A lot of them don't. Such is the way of society. Too many times parents are being chastised for being disciplinarians. Sorry state of affairs.
The way the system is today makes me sad. I wish my sister was alive today to tell all of those politically correct morons what it means to take responsibility for one's actions. This is like anything else that needs drastic change. It always starts with a ripple.
You throw a pebble in the pond and it starts a ripple that eventually gets bigger, and bigger and bigger. Jack's law is a good example of that. Why? Because the power to be were made to listen.
We have to start somewhere. We have to stop protecting the identity of the juvenile thugs, murders and felons. The punishment certainly should fit the crime.
I am sure there are many of you out there who have heard others say, yeah well, they caught the kids, but they know the police will let them go because they are juveniles. They know they will be able to get back out there sooner rather than later, to do their worst.
Is that not a crime against society in itself?
My heart goes out to those people who have to spend the rest of their lives without those they love. Should not happen to anyone.

 

[Jarred Santos]

Many years ago, my nephew did something wrong. Wasn't violent, but it was wrong.
My older sister, upon finding out about this, dragged him by the ear to the police station and said, he did this and needs to be punished. He was.
He is now a find man in his 40's with 3 kids of his own. Works hard to put a roof over their heads and food in their mouths. I am proud of the way he took responsibility for his stupidity and realised he had to change his behaviour. He speaks of that incident openly, and admits to anyone who will listen, if his mum had not done what she did, life would be so different for him and he would most likely be either behind bars, or dead to us all.
I don't think this kind of thing is an easy fix. I often ask people I know, do you know where your kids are and what they are doing right now? A lot of them don't. Such is the way of society. Too many times parents are being chastised for being disciplinarians. Sorry state of affairs.
The way the system is today makes me sad. I wish my sister was alive today to tell all of those politically correct morons what it means to take responsibility for one's actions. This is like anything else that needs drastic change. It always starts with a ripple.
You throw a pebble in the pond and it starts a ripple that eventually gets bigger, and bigger and bigger. Jack's law is a good example of that. Why? Because the power to be were made to listen.
We have to start somewhere. We have to stop protecting the identity of the juvenile thugs, murders and felons. The punishment certainly should fit the crime.
I am sure there are many of you out there who have heard others say, yeah well, they caught the kids, but they know the police will let them go because they are juveniles. They know they will be able to get back out there sooner rather than later, to do their worst.
Is that not a crime against society in itself?
My heart goes out to those people who have to spend the rest of their lives without those they love. Should not happen to anyone.

Hats off to your sister, @MariaG! That may very well have been what set your nephew's life straight!

 

[Zemo]

Like I always say, "Somebody who breaks into your house at midnight with a knife in his hands, or some pack of delinquents banding up to ransack your business, aren't there to wish you a Happy Christmas." Why shouldn't you be allowed to protect what's yours? But if you do, you're the one who faces the possibility of prison, not the perpetrators.