Community growing frustrated with increasing youth crime in Mullewa, but insists solutions found in support

Mullewa residents are fed up with a recent youth crime wave, which some claim is as bad as it has ever been, leaving them fearing for their safety and property, and prompting urgent crisis talks with authorities. Extra police have also been sent into town in a bid to tackle the growing rate of break-ins, vehicle thefts, damage and antisocial behaviour. The town, about 99km east of Geraldton with a population of 321, is growing tired of repeat juvenile offenders tearing rips in the fabric of their community. Mullewa is a small farming town, gazetted in 1894, and has slowly established a population of loyal residents, with many born and raised there. John Peet is one of those people, born at the Mullewa hospital 82 years ago. He likes where he lives, and has come to know most people in the town very well. Mr Peet raised his children in Mullewa, and is a retired truck driver who has volunteered with St John WA for many years, helping with vehicles, administration and other tasks whenever he can. In January, Mr Peet came home to find the glass in his front door broken, his house trashed, and the spare keys to his car missing. A group of teenagers had stolen his car. It was found in good condition a few days later, with one window broken and some fast food wrappers on the seat. Despite the circumstances, Mr Peet seems relatively unbothered by the situation. He refers to the perpetrator as “a bad little bugger”, and raises one concern. “What it does, is it gives the older people a bad name,” Mr Peet said. He wants to ensure people know one bad apple doesn’t mean a bad crop. “The court haven’t got the power,” he said. “The Government should give them the power to make them (juveniles) do some community work.” More recently, Mr Peet’s good friend Joe McHardy has not been so lucky. Mr McHardy had been at the Railway Hotel for a few beers, and came home to find the spare keys to his Toyota hybrid missing. Later that evening, Mr McHardy awoke to lights in his driveway,and got up to find a group of teenagers stealing his car. The following morning, he received a call from the police that his six-year-old uninsured car had been found burnt out. Mr McHardy, an 82-year-old, said the incident was “frustrating”. A resident since 1992, he believes the crime in Mullewa is the worst it has ever been. “Since then, I’ve been feeling unsafe,” Mr McHardy said. The community has rallied behind Mr McHardy, who used his car as a volunteer to take elderly people to appointments or activities. A GoFundMe page set up on Thursday has already raised $13,880 to get Mr McHardy back on the road, with additional offers to pay for his first 12 months of insurance. Helen Ansell is a resident and artist within the community who has been on the receiving end of recent antisocial behaviour. Ms Ansell has had three cars stolen in three weeks. “We had the gallery broken into, the house broken into, one car stolen and set on fire, one taken for a joy ride and they burnt the engine. The third was stolen and smashed up,” she said. The thefts have all been reported to the police. “I’m hopeful out of something bad that we as a community can come together and make our town a more safe place,” Ms Ansell said. One former resident who wished to remain unnamed for safety reasons — whose elderly father still lives in Mullewa, some 670km away from herself — became emotional when discussing her fears for her dad’s safety. “It hits home because he’s so far away now,” she said. “ It’s the elderly looking out for the elderly out there. The distress it causes is really upsetting. “The law’s hands are tied. There’s only so much they can do with the kids. Teachers can only do so much. Elders feel like their hands are tied too. There needs to be a massive community consultation, and it needs to happen now.” Tony Crudeli completed his apprenticeship in Mullewa in 1979, and bought his business, a petrol station and auto-repair shop, in 1997. “It’s quite frustrating and annoying for country towns,” he said. “When an incident occurs we try to better that area to prevent it happening again — alarms, cameras. But that becomes very costly,” he said. Mr Crudeli said it had “been quite bad in the last couple of weeks. But you can either complain about it or get on with it”. He suggests responsibility and consequences need to be shared with the parents and carers of juvenile offenders. Solutions are being sought by an inter-agency group which had its first meeting last Thursday. Labor Agricultural Region MLA Sandra Carr is helping guide the group, which believes there is no single solution, but that wraparound services will help curb antisocial behaviour. Headspace, WA Police, WA Centre for Rural Health, St John WA and staff from the Department of Communities and the Department of Education were all involved in the meeting. Ms Carr said: “This requires a whole-community effort, and particularly supporting the police who are working so hard. If we’re all communicating, then the time and effort is constructive. “We’re doing a deep dive into where are the gaps, and where do they match and meet the behaviours? One of the things we’ve found is the youth centre caters for 12-25s, so looking at kids younger than that and how we can help them find healthy ways to engage in community.” Mid West Gascoyne Police District Supt Steve Post said police had confirmed an increase in reported offences in Mullewa, but had successfully identified, found and apprehended several alleged offenders. Police have committed to a greater level of policing within the town, creating a more visible presence, he said. “We are listening to community concerns and we will work with the community and other government and non-government agencies to restore a feeling of safety within the town,” he said. Supt Post emphasised the importance of reporting information to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. In 2023, Mullewa had 230 overall offences reported to police —up 5 per cent on the year before, and double the reported rate recorded in 2019.