OCTOBER 4, 2016 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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Hail heroic sons of Scray It was a celebration 62 years in the making, and the sons and daughters of the west did not disappoint. More than 20,000 fans descended on the Whitten Oval on Sunday to celebrate after the Bulldogs claimed their first VFL/AFL premiership since 1954 with a stirring 22-point win over Sydney. While many were nursing sore heads after a night of revelry, nothing was going to stop the party as families from all over Melbourne sung and danced their way down Sutton Parade and into their spiritual home to welcome their premiership heroes to the stage. Comedian and banner writer Danny McGinlay summed up the mood of the crowd from the main stage. “This is the most awesome day ever,” he said to raucous applause. One by one the team were presented to the throng, the biggest cheers reserved for spiritual leader Bob Murphy, who missed the game through injury, and coach Luke Beveridge, who had delivered the Dogs to the promised land in just his second season at the helm. Beveridge heaped praise on his side when it was suggested he must have Jedi powers. “The players are Jedis, the Force is with them,” he insisted. The celebrations continued throughout Sunday and into another evening, fans getting used to their time atop the AFL.
(Pictures: Luke Hemer)
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Thieves target mobiles By Alexandra Laskie Mobile phones are hot property for thieves in Brimbank, new crime statistics reveal. In the year to March 31, almost 550 mobile phones valued at more than $490,500 were stolen in the municipality, according to the Crime Statistics Agency. In the agency’s quarterly crime data, Melbourne’s CBD has most mobile phone thefts (1634), followed by Yarra (560), Brimbank (548), Greater Dandenong (508) and Hume (438). Brimbank Acting Inspector Matthew Baynes said most Brimbank phone thefts
occurred at Watergardens Shopping Centre and Sunshine’s CBD. “Generally speaking, it’s when people leave their phones on shop counters or in unlocked cars and clearly visible,” he said. He pointed out there had been a slight drop in phone thefts this year, down 1 per cent from 554 incidents in the previous year. Acting Inspector Baynes said most stolen phones were eventually thrown in the bin. “They’re very rarely reused,” he said. “Some are sent overseas, but the bulk aren’t.” North West Metro Regional Crime Squad Detective Inspector Wayne Newman urged
people to report stolen mobile phones to their telecommunications providers and to block the phone’s international mobile equipment identity (IMEI). “If we work as a community to ensure the IMEI blocking function is activated on stolen phones, we should eventually reduce the number of thefts as offenders realise they [phones] are no longer valuable,” he said. Across Victoria, almost 13,700 mobile phones were stolen in the year to March 31. Crime statistics for the year to June 30 reveal Brimbank is the state’s fourth worst suburban crime hotspot.
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Overall crime was up 8.6 per cent in the municipality, to 19,566 offences. Arson almost doubled, to 143 offences compared with 96 in the previous year. Acting Inspector Baynes said most of those offences related to stolen cars that had been set on fire. “We had an increase in stolen cars that were being burnt-out in places like industrial estate and paddocks in Derrimut and Sunshine North,” he said. Drug use and possession in Brimbank was up 20 per cent and weapons and explosive offences were up 13.4 per cent.
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