Earlier this week Victoria Police\u2019s Armed Crime Squad charged a man with allegedly tasking young offenders to carry out a range of attacks on Melbourne hospitality venues.<\/p>\n
The man, who Victoria Police allege is the organiser of the attacks, was remanded in custody following a brief filing appearance in Melbourne\u2019s Magistrates\u2019 Court on Tuesday, 14 July.<\/p>\n
Operation Eclipse detectives assisted with executing a search warrant at a residential address in Essendon, which resulted in a 20-year-old Essendon man being charged with a range of offences, including:<\/p>\n
Aggravated home invasion with an offensive weapon, kidnapping, extortion with threats to kill, false imprisonment, common law assault, attempted aggravated home invasion, incitement to commit an indictable offence and recruiting a child to engage in criminal activity in relation to an incident in Malvern on 14 April;<\/p>\n
Attempt to commit an indictable offence (arson), incite to commit an indictable offence and recruiting a child to engage in criminal activity in relation to an incident in Southbank on 27 April; and<\/p>\n
Attempted home invasion and recruiting a child to engage in criminal activity in relation to an incident in Doncaster on 28 April.<\/p>\n
During the court appearance the defendant did not seek bail, and the court rejected a bid to suppress publication of his image.<\/p>\n
Police allege the man \u2018tasked\u2019 offenders via encrypted applications for numerous jobs, including a mistaken identity kidnapping in Malvern, an attempted aggravated home invasion in Doncaster and an attempted arson on a Southbank licensed premises in April.<\/p>\n
The prosecution says the case will rely heavily on evidence extracted from encrypted devices, with the next court date set for 20 October, 2026.<\/p>\n
In April the specialised taskforce, Operation Eclipse, was established to target the crime gangs that were believed to be behind the attacks on licensed venues which swept across inner-city nightlife precincts in Melbourne from early April<\/a>.<\/p>\n The crime wave, which included firebombings, attempted kidnappings, drive-by shootings and arson attacks targeted pubs, bars and nightclubs across Melbourne.<\/p>\n