Rebecca Judd has again criticised authorities in Victoria after a teenager charged over a fatal car crash skipped bail.
Police have launched a manhunt for the 17-year-old, who they believe was behind the wheel of a stolen Jeep Cherokee that collided with a Toyota Corolla, killing 28-year-old junior doctor William Taylor as he was driving home from soccer practice.
The Jeep reached speeds of 100 km/h as it raced through the Melbourne suburb of Burwood on July 2 just before the crash, police said.
On her Instagram account, Judd, the wife of retired AFL champion Chris Judd, posted a terse response to a report that the teenager had breached his bail conditions and was on the run.
“This is outrageous,” she posted.
The glamorous WAG has repeatedly criticised the Victorian Government’s handling of crime.
In April she responded to several reports of youths running amok in Melbourne by posting the following: ‘Aand so it goes on… and on…’.
She also responded to news of a violent home invasion that left a homeowner in the posh suburb of Beaumaris, a stone’s throw from Judd’s $7.3 million mansion in Brighton, hospitalised.
AFL WAG Rebecca Judd has stepped up her criticism of the Victorian government after a teenager charged over a fatal crash missed her bail
Bec Judd didn’t mince her words on Tuesday night after reading the news
“And another one… So sad for the victim. I know it’s normal to say this, but the system is well and truly destroyed,” Judd wrote.
Judd first raised concerns about safety in Brighton in 2022 and has since taken the opportunity to raise awareness of Victoria’s decade-long spike in youth crime.
“I’m pretty sure someone warned the government about this in 2022 and they didn’t,” she said after March statistics showed a spike in burglaries in Victoria.
“They didn’t care then and they don’t care now. This is a problem for all of Vic and not just Bayside.”
Jacinta Allan’s Labor government has recently tightened bail laws, which critics say were previously designed to free suspected young offenders.
Acting First Minister Ben Carroll was forced to deny last week that the courts are being “too lenient” on young alleged offenders.
However, Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines sent mixed signals, placing some blame on the courts, which grant bail to repeat offenders.
“It is the responsibility of the courts to ensure that repeat offenders who are released on bail have their bail revoked,” Carbines said.
‘That is the expectation of the Victorian Government, Parliament and the people.’
William Taylor, 28, died when a suspected stolen speeding Jeep crashed into his Toyota in Melbourne’s inner-city Burwood neighbourhood
In granting bail to the now-fugitive teenager, the judge took into account the fact that the teenager had a permanent residence with his mother, attended a private school in Melbourne and was not on bail at the time of the alleged offence.
The judge ruled that the risk posed by the boy could be reduced by imposing conditions, such as a curfew.
Two 15-year-old girls were also charged with car theft and three other men are still wanted in connection with the collision.