There is nothing simple about alleged youth offenders such as ‘MMA’, despite how they are portrayed in the news

If you want to understand the debate about bail reform in Victoria – and the gulf between the position taken by the Allan government and the recommendations of experts – you could do worse than consider the case of an alleged youth offender known as MMA.

His case has straddled the recent changes in bail laws: he was granted bail in the Victorian supreme court only days before they were introduced to parliament, and then had to apply for an extension of that bail last week under the new laws.

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