Police explain why they couldn’t enter the Footscray short-stay party house

FIRST WITH NEIL MITCHELL

Victoria Police have addressed the claims made by the owner of the Footscray short-stay rental that officers didn’t enter her property until it was too late.

Kelly told Neil Mitchell yesterday that police “stood and watched” outside her Ryan Street house as a group of more than 100 youths destroyed furniture and smashed holes in the walls.

Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said his officers have told him a different story.

“What my police are telling me is during the evening, that they weren’t present when there was damage, there was no music, there was certainly lots and lots of young people making lots of noise,” Assistant Commissioner Leane said.

“If I can deal with the ‘can’t go in’ issue, we certainly have an issue around short term rentals.

“Our lawyers are telling us that it’s a lease, even though it’s a one night lease, on that basis it’s a civil matter and you’re off to VCAT if you try and exclude them from the premises.”

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“At 7.30 in the morning, we were told it was quiet, there’s a female sergeant on duty from Footscray who has done exactly the right thing and gone to check to make sure everything is secure, and then she was subject to attack by a group of young people,” he added.

“Then it escalated fairly quickly.”