Media Release
For immediate release 8:00 a.m. (AEDT) Tuesday 19 December 2017
The number of motor vehicle thefts sentenced in Victoria’s Magistrates’ Court reached 3,500 in 2016–17, an increase of 170% over five years, a new report has found.
The report by the Sentencing Advisory Council examines sentencing practices in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria over the five years to June 2017 for various types of theft, including theft from a shop, theft from a motor vehicle, theft of a motor vehicle, theft of a bicycle and general theft.
In the five years to 30 June 2017, the Magistrates’ Court sentenced a total of 114,170 charges of theft (all types). General theft made up 50% of these charges (56,710) and theft from a shop made up 36% (41,528). Theft of a motor vehicle comprised 9% of all theft charges (10,714).
Theft of a bicycle was the least frequently sentenced type of theft, comprising only 1% of theft charges sentenced. But the annual number of bicycle theft charges sentenced increased by 83% – from 99 to 181 charges per year over the five years to June 2017.
Motor vehicle theft had the highest imprisonment rate of any type of theft, with 36% (698) of offenders receiving a prison sentence. Other types of theft typically received non-custodial sentences. For example, 36% of offenders sentenced for shop theft received a fine and 29% received an adjourned undertaking, while 13% went to prison.
‘The most serious charges of theft are heard in the County Court’, said Council Chair Professor Arie Freiberg, ‘so it is not surprising that the Magistrates’ Court rarely imposes imprisonment for this offence’.
The report looked at offender demographics in cases where theft was the most serious offence sentenced. It found that in these cases:
- 66% of theft offenders were male and, across all theft types, this percentage ranged from 58% for theft from a shop to 93% for theft of a bicycle
- at 34%, the proportion of women being sentenced for theft was higher than the proportion of women being sentenced for all offence types (28%) in the Magistrates’ Court
- the age of offenders ranged from 18 to 87 years, and the median (midpoint average) age was 33 years
- theft of a motor vehicle had the youngest offenders (median age 28 years), and theft from a shop had the oldest offenders (median age 35 years).
While the number of cases where theft was the most serious offence sentenced has remained stable, the number of charges of theft sentenced has increased steadily (from 20,093 charges in 2012–13 to 26,259 charges in 2016–17). ‘The steady increase in the number of charges of theft being dealt with by the Magistrates’ Court over the past five years has contributed to an already heavy workload’, Professor Freiberg said.
‘The recent crime statistics for the year to September 2017, released by the Crime Statistics Agency, show a drop in the number of motor vehicle thefts. If this decline is sustained, I would expect this to be reflected in the 2017–18 Magistrates’ Court sentencing data’, Professor Freiberg said.
What Is Theft?
Section 72 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) defines theft as follows: ‘A person who dishonestly takes any property belonging to another person with the intention of permanently depriving that person of the property is guilty of theft’. The category of ‘general theft’ includes all theft not covered by the other categories (e.g. theft from a house, trailer or caravan, and theft of a weapon). Although an indictable (serious) offence, theft is most commonly sentenced in the Magistrates’ Court, where it carries a maximum penalty of two years’ prison and/or a fine of up to 240 penalty units ($38,056.80).
