MyDefence

If you think posting videos of burnouts means you can’t be charged then you should be made aware of Operation Achilles.

Since 2021 Victoria Police have been trawling social media posts of videos, photos and comments to gather evidence of alleged hoon offending. This has lead to 75 arrests resulting in 518 charges and 111 impounds.

A plea of guilty to Dangerous Driving is a mandatory 6 months licence disqualification. This is the most common charge laid and can be proven where the person charged did a burnout with people nearby (including the camera person) or if they had a passenger in their car at the time.

If you are concerned, it’s best review your social media content and head off to Heathcote or Sandown instead.

When is a toy gun an imitation firearm?

If you grew up playing cowboys and Indians and bought toy guns from the local market, you may be surprised to know that possessing many of them is illegal.

S5AB of the Control of Weapons Act 1990 makes it an offence to possess an imitation firearm.

Go to any toy retailer these days and you’ll not see any toy guns that look real, they are all brightly coloured with ridiculous form factors to conform with the law.

To prove the offence police just need to demonstrate that the toy gun could be reasonably mistaken for a real one. This is why you often find red nozzles on toy guns to make it obvious.

The law came into force in the year 2000 which means anyone who bought any movie memorabilia such as a James Bond Goldeneye Walther PPK or a Lone Star Luger cap gun when they were kids is unknowingly committing an offence.

We’ve run into cases where search warrants have been executed on client’s homes only to be charged with this offence when police found toy guns in the backs of cupboards that haven’t been played with for years.

****ms

Office of Public Prosecutions creating their own headaches for criminal justice

‘Toxic’ OPP in turmoil, with solicitor exodus after s*x offence unit axed Solicitors are leaving in ‘absolutely unprecedented numbers’ and several criminal trials have been adjourned because the OPP was unable to find prosecutors.