Author: Stephen Taylor

CHILDREN aged 12-16 were involved in an extensive crime rampage that could cost hundreds of thousands in damages to vehicle owners and shopkeepers last Wednesday night (2 December). Over ten hours – from 7.45pm-5am – the group of six: Stole keys to a Ford Territory from change rooms at Peninsula Aquatic Centre before driving off and, at 10.40pm, attempted to break in to the victim’s Frankston South house but were disturbed and fled; Attempted two aggravated burglaries in Mt Eliza, one at Summerhill Cres, 10.45pm, where an elderly man was threatened with a garden stake and told to hand over…

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MORE arrests follow the alleged carjacking of a 2008 Ford XR6 sedan in Bartlett St, Frankston South, 2.40am, Friday 6 November. A Keysborough youth, 17, and Springvale South man, 21, were charged last week. Earlier, a 15 year old, of Patterson Lakes, was arrested and charged with car theft, as well as serious driving offences. The pair was allegedly among a group of up to five men in a stolen BMW X5 which rammed the car, being driven by a 20-year-old man, and then threatened him with a shotgun and a handgun before stealing it. The group then drove off…

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A LANGWARRIN man and his teenage son pulled four people to safety in surging seas off Frankston, Wednesday afternoon, but could not find a fifth man whose body was spotted later by ambulance helicopter. Peter Edwards and son Trent, 17, were sitting on the sand after kayaking near the pier when a young man of Pacific Islander appearance ran over for help. “He said someone was drowning,” Mr Edwards said. “It’s all a bit vague now but I remember dragging our kayaks under the pier and seeing four heads bobbing about in the water and we got out there as…

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TEACHER Annemaree Hunter, of Yarrabah School in Aspendale, is more than a role model for her pupils – she’s a guiding light for fellow teachers, too. On Friday at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne she was presented with a Principals’ Association of Specialist Schools (PASS) Outstanding Primary Teacher award. Education minister James Merlino said the awards honoured the outstanding achievements of those working with children and young people with disabilities at specialist schools, and helping them achieve their full potential. “Every award winner has made an outstanding contribution to the learning, wellbeing and life outcomes of Victorian kids with disabilities,” he…

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THE theft of cars and their use in petrol drive-offs, theft and a carjacking in Frankston and surrounding suburbs highlights the everyday threat to residents posed by crime gangs. And it’s prompted a warning from a Frankston detective: Make sure your front door is locked at all times and hide your car keys – especially overnight – as the current trend is for youth gang members to steal cars for crime sprees. The gangs – with one prominent group known as Apex – call it ‘missioning’. Two or three gang members are tasked with breaking into houses to steal car…

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