By Goya Dmytryshchak and Benjamin Millar
Reports of sexual offences increased in Hobsons Bay in the 12 months to September 30 last year, new Crime Statistics Agency figures show.
Police and support groups attributed the increase – from 125 to 139 – to ‘historical’ offences and more confidence in speaking out.
Drug dealing and trafficking offences also rose in Hobsons Bay, from 34 to 42.
Sexual offences rose by just one in Maribyrnong (126 to 127), which recorded an almost 60 per cent surge in drug dealing and trafficking offences, up from 101 to 162. There were two homicides reported in Hobsons Bay and a further two in Maribyrnong. Both Maribyrnong homicides were family violence-related. The first occurred in Yarraville in November 2014, the second in Footscray in January last year.
In Hobsons Bay, Khaled Abou Hasna, 39, was shot multiple times last April as he stepped from his car outside his mother’s home in Lewin Court, Altona Meadows. Police said he appeared to have been ambushed in a targeted attack but would not say if his death was related to underworld figures. This death remains unsolved.
In December 2014, Altona North man Roger Bertocci, 46, was fatally stabbed about 200 metres from his Knapp Street home after going to the aid of a pregnant woman allegedly being attacked by a man.
Jonathon Sporton, 21, was charged with Mr Bertocci’s murder and faces trial in March.
Hobsons Bay recorded significant decreases in assaults (from 567 to 537), burglaries (633 to 590), theft (2740 to 2558), disorderly conduct (247 to 155), drug cultivation and manufacturing (43 to 19) and use and possession (274 to 220).
Assaults in Maribyrnong dropped (575 to 469), disorderly and offensive conduct incidents were down (353 to 297), but burglary offences jumped from 769 to 870. Theft was again the most reported crime in Maribyrnong, despite a decrease from 3568 to 3552.
