Pictured: 'Apex gang matriarch' who denies using her home as a safe house for teen thugs
A woman police accuse of being an Apex gang matriarch is facing new charges of stealing.
The 50-year-old mother of five denies her Dandenong home is used as a safe house for teenage thugs selling goods stolen during their crime sprees.
She’s so notorious, the courts have banned her from even having children in her home, but Sue Merrall insists she’s misunderstood.
“I keep getting accused of things that I’m doing, so I just want to tell people out there that I’m not the person that they think that I am,” Sue Merrall told 7 News.
“I’m not even with the Apex gang, like where do they get this Apex gang?”
She pleaded guilty earlier this year but today insisted that was because she had no choice. She’s now accused of breaching her bail by stealing.
This time she’s charged with taking box cutters, shopping bags and torches from the Reject Shop.
As well as this, the Magistrates Court heard she’s missed compulsory appointments with the court.
She said it was because she’s so stressed she can’t leave the house.
Merrall told the court that media coverage of her cases had been stressful and made it hard for her, but the magistrate said a lot of it was of her own making.
He added that he was simply trying to fix up what had happened and ordered her back to court later this month.
After youth crime problems all year, on Monday the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced new laws and longer jail terms for adults who encourage kids to offend.
“This (is) all about making sure that those who recruit young people to do the wrong thing that in itself is a crime,” Mr Andrews said.
Sue Merrall insists that does not apply to her.
Top news stories - December 6
