Kerrie Falconer's teenage son's car was one of many in Canberra's south to be torched in the past few months. Photo: Elesa Kurtz
It had been a typical Friday night in Tuggeranong when flames suddenly engulfed a white, two-door car tucked away beneath a suburban carport – and left a community fearful of their property and, potentially, their safety.
The attack was one of a spate of torchings to hit Canberra's south in the past few months, leaving residents concerned about the security of their vehicles and a lack of consequences.
According to ACT Policing, 27 of the 50 incidents of vehicle arson in Canberra's south during the previous financial year occurred in Tuggeranong, and 16 in the inner south.
Kerrie Falconer's son's car was torched at the family's home in Gordon. Photo: Supplied
Kerrie and Brett Falconer's 17-year-old son was having a night in with friends when his two-door Hyundai Excel was set alight in Gordon.
But despite CCTV footage which appeared to document a group of adolescents at the scene before and after the car was torched, witness statements from friends and neighbours and footage of the same group returning to the street the next day, the police were unable to lay charges.
“A group of boys he knew came to the house, uninvited, and he asked them to leave. This group appears to have waited for a little while and set fire to his car,” Mrs Falconer said.
The car was destroyed by fire. Photo: Supplied
“Another person ran to the house and alerted him the car was on fire under our carport – our carport is attached to our house.
“While we were talking with the police one of our neighbours came by and said they had it all on CCTV footage. We were able to identify one of the culprits and the two cars that were driven. Those people were also seen by other people in our street just before, and a lot earlier.”
Mrs Falconer believed there was enough evidence to identify the alleged offenders.
“There was a total of four minutes [footage] where you can see these people mucking around in the driveway to driving away and flames engulfing the car. There's nobody else there – everything except lighting the match,” she said.
“The police didn't seem to be able to do anything about it.”
An ACT Policing spokeswoman said police conducted a 10-week long investigation into the incident but there was insufficient evidence available to connect the offenders to the crime.
“In any investigation, police must be able to provide evidence to support a charge which is beyond reasonable doubt. This means that while circumstantial evidence may indicate a suspect in a matter, it may not be enough to charge the suspect with an offence,” she said.
“Vehicle fires are difficult to investigate as a lot of the potential forensic evidence is lost due to the fire. While CCTV is a useful tool in police investigations, it is important for the public to understand that CCTV may not be permissible as evidence in court.”
The spokeswoman said securing cars and using anti-theft devices could lessen the chances of property being targeted. In Gordon, residents have started taking pre-emptive measures.
However, Mr and Mrs Falconer said the latest torching had left the family and the community fearful.
“A lot of people we've spoken to, neighbours and people in the area, have been very concerned about cars in the neighbourhood and are installing CCTV cameras. We've installed it,” Mrs Falconer said.
“It's a pretty bad state of affairs when you feel you have to have everything on camera all the time.”
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