It was reported in the Herald Sun on the 6^th of October 2025 that “Magistrate Carolyn Burnside late last month warned corrections officials and police they were ‘in contempt of court’, effectively for not bringing a prisoner to court, in defiance of a ‘jail order’ requiring them to do so.

It would seem that in making an internal political administrative point, it is acceptable to publicly disregard evidence and ignore community safety issues, which the magistrate has failed to consider.

Once under the control of Corrections, it is their task to convey prisoners to courts, not the job of the police.

The Prisoner, a lifetime heroin addict, was tossed out on the street by the magistrate, trying to make an internal point over the inconvenience to her Court.

With the judicious use of technology, prisoners would not be required to attend court for procedural matters or, for that matter, their Trial.

While the vast majority of us have a great deal of admiration and respect for Judges, Magistrates and other jurists, our collective community attitude and trust in the court system is severely damaged by intemperate comments from a member of the bench who is obviously an outlier.

It is an absolute disgrace that a Prisoner who has not been found guilty of any offence, only charged, must wait so long to have his matter resolved.

Ms Burnside apparently invited prisoners to start applying for bail and said she would find it a “very attractive” proposition to release them.

Without considering the consequences of each case, this pronouncement is tantamount to contempt of all the courts that have refused bail for prisoners.

These prisoners she refers to are not your Sunday School types, but generally the worst of the worst, an unacceptable risk.

The Government must take action to ensure this Magistrate does not implement her threat, so we do not have at-risk prisoners free to roam and commit other crimes.