Victorian premier pushes bail changes following deadly car rampage

Daniel Andrews has expressed grit to push bail changes after suspect Dimitrious “Jimmy” Gargasoulas supposedly took the lives of five people on Friday in a car rampage on Bourke Street. The incident has left the Victorian premier to announce an overhaul of bail laws. Andrews said bail changes need to go much further and that “nothing will be off the table.”

Andrews revealed in a press conference that one of the changes that should be expected is the introduction of after-hours magistrates court. This will allow hearing of bail requests over the weekend after regular court hours.

Moreover, all bail applications on serious matters are now required. A bail justice will no longer hear matters opposed by the police, but a magistrate should do the task instead.

The Victorian premier has also declared a review of the bail system to be headed by director of public prosecutions, Paul Coghlan. The review aims to see the best way to balance the presumption of innocence with community safety, as well as current tests of unacceptable risk.

Bail laws in Victoria have went through a series of changes in the past years. These include stricter penalties for breaching bail and the introduction of a presumption against bail for a range of violent offences.

Police commissioner Graham Ashton has expressed support for the bail, provided magistrates would be available at any time of the day. He also has nothing but support for the police members involved in Gargasoulas’s case, stressing that everything he saw are authorities trying to make life and death decisions on the run.

Meanwhile, Gargasoulas is expected to deal with multiple murder charges. The suspect had surgery on Saturday for a gunshot wound he obtained while police was stopping him from his alleged deadly car rampage through the Melbourne central business district.