Surf Coast Times
Tuesday 9 November 2010
VOL 8. No 45
www.surfcoasttimes.com.au
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As a tribute to China, the Surf Coast Times printed the memorial day booklet, while the biplane’s weekly flyover pulled a banner with a simple but fitting tribute.
FINE LINE Nearly 1,000 people attended a memorial day to pay their respects to local surf life saving legend, Rex ‘China’ Gilbert, who passed away last month. People travelled from around Australia to pay tribute to one of the most popular and well respected members of the community. China’s grandson, Sam Beel (black cap, second from left), later scattered China’s ashes from the boat. Photo: PETER MARSHALL
Police set to fine people who fail to lock their cars as opportunistic criminals strike
BY ELEANOR WOODS
TORQUAY Police have warned people to lock their cars or pay the penalty – and not just from the threat of criminals. Detective Sergeant Craig Blunt, from Torquay’s Criminal Investigation Unit, said police will start issuing fines for people who fail to lock their cars. Fed up with people continually providing opportunities for criminals by leaving doors unlocked, Blunt said the issuing of fines is a last resort. The final straw for local police came last week
Surf Forecast
when 15 cars in Jan Juc had valuables stolen – and all were unlocked. Included in the stolen spree were wallets, sunglasses, iPods, CDs, mobile phones and a surfboard. “It is just so frustrating that people don’t lock their cars,” Blunt said. “They think Jan Juc is a little sleepy hollow and it is safe to leave valuables in an unlocked car, but sadly, this is no longer the case.” Blunt reinforced that it is an offence to leave an unattended vehicle unlocked and that people who did so could face a fine of $80.
“We don’t want to have to give out these fines but we really need to get through to people and it looks like we will have to start enforcing this to get the message across,” he said. “It is an offence to leave your car unlocked. The reason being, potential thieves are a lot more likely to steal from an unlocked car rather than a locked one.” Blunt confirmed that only unlocked cars were targeted in last week’s raid, which is thought to have started at 9pm on Wednesday night and continued into the early hours of Thursday morning, encompassing
Torquay Boulevard, Kinlock Avenue and Inveray Avenue. “There were husband and wife’s cars parked next to each other and only one was broken into – the unlocked one,” Blunt said. “A lot of valuable stuff was stolen. You name it. All the cars involved have been ransacked and the whole thing is avoidable. Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in Jan Juc last Wednesday night or anyone who knows anything about this matter should contact Torquay Police on 5264 3400.
WED 1-2ft clean, W 23° THU 1-2ft small, SW 24° FRI 1-2ft tiny NE 28° SAT 1-2ft+ building SSW 14°
Andrew
Liberal for SOUTH BARWON AAuthorised byy Tony To Nutt, 104 Exhibition Street, Melbourne.
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KATOS T. 0419 512 477 E. andrew.katos@vic.liberal.org.au
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Full secondary College for Torquay
Liberal Victoria