A terrifying hammer attack on one of Bec Judd’s neighbors was the catalyst for her dramatic calls for greater protection in one of Australia’s most affluent suburbs.
The footy WAG sparked uproar last month when said she felt ‘unsafe’ in her $7.3million mansion in Melbourne’s wealthy Bayside suburb of Brighton.
But Daily Mail Australia can reveal Judd had good reason to be concerned after one of her neighbors just down the street was the victim of a home invasion.
Footy WAG neighbor Bec Judd (pictured) came under fire for raising concerns over crime in the wealthy Bayside suburb of Brighton in Melbourne
A neighbor of footy WAG Bec Judd endured a terrifying attack in her own home. The hammer wielding crook was caught by cops, but they let him go
Scared: ‘So sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside,’ Bec Judd wrote to Instagram
The attack happened just weeks before Judd went public with her tirade against Daniel Andrews’ government.
Judd hit Instagram, where she has a whopping 788,000 followers, last month with claims the government ‘didn’t seem to care’ about the ‘rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside’.
Mr Andrews took little time to swipe back, mocking her claims as ‘sweeping assessments’ and insisted: ‘I’m sorry she feels that way. The data would tell a different story.’
The April 28 home invasion, first reported in the Herald Sun, that shocked Judd into action happened under broad daylight just a stone’s throw from her family’s home.
The woman had entered her house to find a man rifling through her possessions.
A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the offender produced a hammer and threatened to use it when the woman pulled out her phone to call police.
‘Investigators have been told a woman walked into one of the rooms of her Kinane Street home to find an unknown man going through her bag about 1.40pm,’ he said.
The armed intruder then forced the woman to hand over her phone.
‘The offender ran out of the house with the woman’s phone and purse and left the scene in a blue hatchback,’ a police spokesman said.
Daily Mail Australia has been told Judd’s neighbors flocked to help the terrified woman, who was not injured in the shocking home invasion.
It didn’t take long for detectives to catch up with the alleged home invader, who had crossed over from Melbourne’s western suburbs to prey on Brighton’s elite.
Bec Judd used her large social media influence to highlight crime in her suburb. One of her neighbors had been the victim of a terrifying home invasion
A gang of teenage home invaders stole a luxury car in Brighton and were later shot at by police
But in a slap to the face of the victim and her well-to-do neighbors, the 22-year old Footscray man was interviewed and sent on his way without charge.
A police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia on Friday the man is expected to be charged on summons with aggravated burglary.
In Victoria, an aggravated burglary conviction carries a whopping maximum sentence of 25-years in prison.
In the past 19 months, Brighton has been rocked by the rape of a 16-year-old girl, the stabbing of a teenage boy, and two 10-year-olds attacked by a gang of knife-wielding teens.
An 83 year old man was also confronted by teens armed with knives who tried to steal a car from his home, while just last month two boys aged 13 and 14 broke into another home and stole two cars.
That incident made national headlines after police were forced to shoot at the gang after they caught up with them in nearby St Kilda.
The furore stirred up by Judd’s comments saw Victoria Police launch Operation Ibis, with 500 officers targeting youth crime in the area.
After some initial blowback, Judd received praise for her strong stance against crime in her area.
Among her backers was reality TV friend, My Kitchen Rules star Zana Pali, who also took top Instagram to declared there was a ‘clear target’ on the Bayside which was causing ‘anxiety and fear among the community’.
The mother-of-two claimed ‘it was only a matter of time before someone gets killed’ and said she had received ‘countless’ messages from other worried locals who said they were scared to sleep at night in fear of being robbed.
Crime statistics for the Bayside area have noticeably increased over the past 10 years and hit record highs, with home break-ins quadrupling since 2014 and aggravated robberies at their highest in five years.
Police shot at the gang after they caught up with them in nearby St Kilda
My Kitchen Rules star Zana Pali backed Judd’s calls for more security in the Bayside area
My Kitchen Rules star Zana Pali hit Instagram to support neighbor Bec Judd
However, Bayside has the second-lowest overall crime rate in Melbourne, with just 4,300 offenses per 100,000 population – down more than 24 per cent on 2020 – compared to more than 10,000 offenses per 100,000 in the similarly wealthy suburbs around nearby Toorak.
Judd maintained crime was worsening in her neighborhood and credited her attack on Mr Andrews with the creation of the new police taskforce.
‘I’m glad my voice has shone a light on the escalating aggravated burglaries in Bayside,’ Judd claimed to The Australian.
‘[While] we are thankful for low non-aggressive crime rates, the increasing nature of home invasion-type crimes in our local community is what makes residents, particularly women, feel unsafe.
‘I welcome Operation Ibis and the extra 500 police promised to the people of Victoria.’
When Daily Mail Australia traveled to Brighton earlier this month, those on the street claimed Judd had not been far off the mark.
One shopkeeper, who did not wish to be named, said her salon had been targeted numerous times by opportunistic thieves in recent times.
Attacking in the dead of night, the crooks had smashed their way into the Church Street shop and helped themselves to whatever they wanted.
So concerned about the thefts, iron bars have now been erected outside, caging the shop in when the sun sets.
Anyone with information that could assist police on the April 28 home invasion is urged to contact Crime Stoppers ten 1800 333 000.