A 14-year-old girl who faced 109 charges for an alleged spree of incidents, including some alleged anti-semitic attacks, has had her charges dropped.
The girl was denied bail in April due to the severity of her alleged offences, which police claimed took place over a number of weeks.
Police today withdrew the charges after the prosecution was unable to reach the legal threshold that the girl, who was 13 at the time of the alleged offences, was capable of committing a criminal offence.
Some of the alleged incidents were anti-semitic in nature, the court was told before the charges were dropped.© Supplied
“The charges were withdrawn because the police prosecution was unable to rebut the legal presumption that a child aged 13 and under is incapable of committing a criminal offence,” A Victoria Police spokesperson told 9News.
“This is a high legal threshold that requires the prosecution to prove the child knew their conduct was seriously morally wrong.”
In one incident on March 30, the girl was allegedly behind the wheel of a stolen car in Brighton in Melbourne’s south-east and attempted to hit a cyclist with the passenger door of the car.
Police alleged in court that the girl had googled “where do Jews live” prior to some of the offences.
The court heard about other alleged incidents targeting Jewish people, including antisemitic remarks shouted at pedestrians in Hampton, Ripponlea and Caulfield, and swerving towards a Jewish family in Ripponlea in March — causing them to run for cover.
Victoria Police insisted the concerns of the Jewish community were still being taken into account despite the withdrawal of the charges.
“We understand the concern these incidents have caused in the community, especially for members of the Jewish community,” the spokesperson said.
Reported with AAP
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