Carnarvon youth are ‘out of control’ after resident with stage 4 cancer avoids being hit by stolen car

Carnarvon resident Larry Freeman has spoken out after his cancer-stricken wife Lynne was allegedly chased down by a stolen car six times during her morning walk, claiming youth crime in the Gascoyne town is “out of control”. The 68-year-old woman has stage four cancer and takes regular morning walks as part of her treatment. But she was left shaken up after a group of juveniles in a stolen hire car allegedly tried to run her over on Tuesday, December 31 on Carnarvon Road. It is the same group who committed a ram raid at the Ampol in Carnarvon and drove off without paying for fuel at the Overlander Roadhouse, located about 200km south of Carnarvon, before leading police on a chase for hundreds of kilometres. “It’s just a constant battle, but it gets worse in the holidays because then they’re just running around doing nothing. There’s mobs that pick them up and make them go to school,” Mr Freeman said. He said his wife had to dive into bushland to avoid being hit, and the vehicle circled back and tried to hit her another five times before disappearing. “She’s got to go down to Perth and see the specialist. The last thing you need is someone trying to run you over,” he said. Member for North West Central Merome Beard said more State Government investment was needed to provide regional towns like Carnarvon with adequate resources to combat the issue. “We have just recently seen a gang of children steal a car, ram raid and steal items, and then allegedly threaten an innocent resident’s life with the stolen car before leading police on a chase for more than 200km,” she said. “Local police are seemingly frustrated and do the very best they can with not enough, often only to be let down with a lack of accountability and consequences being imposed and chasing the same repeat offenders time and time again.”