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Carjacking crime jumps 80 percent in Aust'n state of Victoria

Xinhua, June 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Senior politicians in Victoria have expressed serious concern at the spate of carjackings in the state.

Figures released by the Crime Statistics Agency on Thursday showed that the number of carjackings - a violent form of theft where criminals force drivers from their car then steal the vehicle - had risen by 80 percent in the state over the 12 months to March 2016.

There were 171 carjacking incidents in those 12 months, compared to 95 from the previous year.

The release of the new data comes after a crime-riddled week in which two drivers were the victims of violent carjackings in Melbourne within 24 hours.

Edward O'Donohue, the shadow Police Minister, said on Thursday the State Opposition planned to toughen up the laws on carjacking and aggravated carjacking.

"The Liberal Nationals Coalition has today introduced legislation to make carjacking a specific and serious crime in Victoria," O'Donohue told NewsCorp on Thursday.

The legislation to be introduced, which would see carjacking offenders be offered 15-25 years in jail, will be debated when Parliament resumes in August.

O'Donohue said Victorians should not be afraid of the apparent crime wave on Melbourne's streets.

"Carjackings were virtually unknown in Victoria until relatively recently but as the two recent incidents in Malvern show, they have become all too common, causing enormous angst in the community," he said.

"Victorians should not be fearful of driving their cars on our streets and these crimes must be dealt with to send a strong message of deterrence to these brazen criminals."

A 16-year-old boy, who was allegedly involved in one of the violent carjacking incidents this week, was given bail by a children's magistrate on Wednesday.

Police are still searching for the offender of the other carjacking incident this week, in which a 23-year-old man was assaulted while his Audi was stolen. Endit