By Aneeka Simonis
A FEDERAL politician tough on youth gang crime says he’s had to turn his house into “Fort Knox” after his family was targeted in a brazen aggravated burglary.
La Trobe MP and former national security police officer Jason Wood was home asleep with his wife and two and a half year old daughter when offenders raided his home, stealing the house keys and his wife’s Audi.
His electoral building in Berwick was also targeted.
Mr Wood believes whoever broke into his family home had been outside watching and waiting for the right time, as he and his wife Judy Cheung were up all night trying to soothe their sick daughter, Jasmine.
“We believe they were watching in the house,” he said.
Mr Wood, who was a senior sergeant in the Counter Terrorism Co-ordination Unit from 2003-’04, said his crime enforcement career had trained him to react in threatening situations, and whoever was in his house was lucky not to have awoken the former policeman.
“If I bumped into them in the middle of the night, it would have been on for young and old. There was no way that person would be leaving the house,” he said.
“I’ve been trained to react.”
He did not wish to disclose the date of the aggravated burglary, or the location of his home for fear of reprisals.
“The scary thing is, I’m away from home in parliament a lot so it’s just my wife and Jasmin in the house,” Mr Wood said.
His destroyed car was found five days later in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and was thought to have been involved in a number of other burglaries and break-ins.
His house keys were not located.
Mr Wood has taken a strong, public stance on cracking down on youth gang-related crimes in Victoria as rates of home invasion and carjackings increase.
He called for the National Anti-Gang Squad to be deployed to Victoria to home in on youth offenders, as well as advocating for a national gang database to be developed to help track movement and growth of violent street gangs, including the notorious Apex gang.
He has also previously spoken in support of deporting convicted foreign youth gangsters on non-permanent visas.
Police are yet to arrest anyone over the aggravated burglary and theft at Mr Wood’s home.
He’s convinced his home was locked the night it was invaded, but has since spent approximately $10,000 upgrading his home security including changing the locks, installing alarms and surveillance cameras.
“Our home security has gone up tenfold. It’s like Fort Knox,” he said.
Mr Wood’s electoral building on Langmore Lane, Berwick was broken into weeks before his home was burgled.
Offenders did not manage to get into his office.
He said his personal experience had further highlighted the need for harsher penalties.
In August, the State Government introduced new pro-remand home invasion and carjacking legislation.
Those convicted of either crime would face longer jail terms, and would need to justify why they should not be remanded.
Mr Wood is chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration and is expected to soon make a major announcement on migrant offenders.
Anyone with information about a crime is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
