Games Village security breach leaves officials red faced

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Melbourne, Mar 14 (UNI) The much hyped and vaunted Commonwealth Games Village security cordon was breached by some juvenile offenders which left the officials red faced and severely embarrassed.

More than 225 million dollar has been spent on security for the Games, which organisers have described as state-of-the-art.

But, the group of four youth, who allegedly escaped from the nearby Juvenile Justice Centre in Parkville, managed to penetrate the Village perimeter.

Victoria Police Inspector Matthew Ryan said the four youth, aged between 14 and 16, scaled several fences of the Melbourne Juvenile Justice Centre about 3pm.

They jumped a fence at the perimeter of the Village, ran across a field and exited by jumping another fence less than a minute after their arrival.

Games officials remained tightlipped over whether the incident highlighted security concerns at the Village, describing it as a ''police matter''.

But, inspector Ryan said the fact the offenders had been caught so quickly was proof that the system worked.

''This afternoon there was a demonstration of just how highly effective the perimeter intruder detection systems here at the Village are,'' he told reporters.

''... and how coordinated the policing and security arrangements are when four people who managed to enter the village for less than forty seconds were arrested in three or four minutes of leaving the village.'' Media reports quoted inspector Ryan saying that it did not appear the four youth were directly targetting the Games Village, adding that there had been no athletes nearby when the incident occurred.

He praised the work of police who apprehended the four youth after following them on foot and bicycles.

''Their motive was simply to use it as a means to transport themselves to somewhere else,'' he said, adding ''the perimeter intruder detection systems around the village were how they came to the attention of police''.

''And it was police from the Village who arrested them south of the Village, on Manningham Street, within three or four minutes of their departure.'' A police statement said the four youth would be charged on summons with escape and trespassing offences.

UNI HSB PDS BST1717

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X