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Leah Meurer and husband Gavin Fry's bedroom was invaded by African thugs
Four of them had burst through the back door as they were both lying in bed
Ms Meurer, who was 28 in March, said ordeal made her afraid of black people

By Stephen Johnson For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 21:46 EST, 5 November 2018 | Updated: 21:47 EST, 5 November 2018

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A woman whose bedroom was invaded by African teenagers as she slept next to her husband has admitted the ordeal has made her afraid of black people.

Leah Meurer and her husband Gavin Fry were ambushed in March when four thugs burst through the back door of their Melbourne house before two of them entered their bedroom.

Mr Fry, then aged 32, pushed them out of their room and grabbed a baseball bat from under the bed.

Moments later, the teenagers banged on the door with a hammer as the married couple heaved against the door with their body weight.

Mrs Meurer, 28, said the invasion at their Kings Park home, in Melbourne's north-west, had made her afraid of black people.

'Every time I see a black person down the street or just anywhere, it's like a trigger,' she told the ABC's Four Corners program.

'Before all of this happened, I wasn't scared of black people or people of colour or whatever, but now I can't even face someone in a store that's black because of what's happened to me.

A woman whose bedroom was invaded by African teenagers as she slept next to her husband has admitted the ordeal has made her afraid of black people

'They haven't done anything wrong to me, but I can't help but associate that night with them, and that's what's really unfair.'

Closed-circuit TV cameras at home captured a shirtless Mr Fry chasing them with a baseball but he was unable to stop them stealing both their cars.

The married couple were so traumatised they consoled each other outside outside.

Despite a spate of African gang-related violence, Victorian County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd said media reporting had inflated the issue.

Leah Meurer and her husband Gavin Fry (pictured) were ambushed in March when four thugs burst through the back door of their Melbourne house before entering their bedroom

Mr Fry, then aged 32, pushed them out of their room and grabbed a baseball bat from under the bed and chasing them (home closed-circuit TV footage pictured)

'That creates an impression that ...a very significant proportion of our work is taken up with African youths from the western suburbs of Melbourne,' he told Four Corners, which aired on Monday night.

Only a 'tiny' proportion of the 1600 people sentenced a year received media coverage, and the media was sure to report on offending committed by those with African heritage, he said.

'If you are an African offender, and certainly if you're an African youth of South Sudanese background from the western suburbs of Melbourne, rest assured your case will be reported upon,' he said.

His comments follow follow a political war of words over Melbourne gang violence and its links to the Australian-African community.

Despite a spate of African gang-related violence, Victorian County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd (pictured) said media reporting had inflated the issue

People born in Sudan and South Sudan make up 0.1 per cent of Victoria's total population, but the community is responsible for one per cent of crime in the state.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said authorities should be 'fair dinkum' about dealing with Sudanese gangs in Victoria, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said people were scared to go out for dinner in Melbourne due to 'African gang violence'.

The issue of crime among African youths in Victoria first came to notice in 2012 when the Apex gang emerged, but debate intensified following a breakout of violence at Melbourne's Moomba festival in 2016.