One of Manly’s chief defence lawyers, Joshua McKenzie, sits down with Kim Smee for a frank chat about crime on the Northern Beaches.
I parked illegally, or at least discourteously, in my rush to get to this interview with Joshua McKenzie on time. I was still late, but less offensively so. The irony wasn’t lost on me: here I was, about to ask a criminal defence lawyer how he could justify representing people who do wrong, having just done wrong myself to make our meeting.
Good people can do bad things sometimes (guilty), especially when they’re desperate. But the offences McKenzie defends tend to stretch far beyond any parking violation. Alongside his business partner, James McLoughlin, the pair defend the lion’s share of criminal cases on the Northern Beaches.
The police prosecutors have a big job on their hands, and while they are experienced, methodical and often know the law impeccably, they are not above error nor oversights, McKenzie says. He would know, he was once the senior police prosecutor at Manly and worked there with his co-founder McLoughlin.
From the lead prosecutor to a criminal defence lawyer, now that’s a plot twist.
“How did that go down, what was people’s response to you crossing over to the dark side?” I ask him.
“That’s a good question,” is his initial reply and how he begins almost every response. I’m not sure if it’s to buy time or butter me up. Maybe it’s just a good question.
“Defence work is not, I don’t think, the dark side. It’s a vital part of making the system fair,” he counters.
I was meeting with him to, among other things, discuss local crime (and alleged crime) trends.
Crime Statistics
Crime Trends on the Northern Beaches
Crime rates on the Northern Beaches are roughly half the NSW state average or less.
Year ending September 2016 to September 2025
Year ending Sep 2016
Year ending Sep 2025
Sexual Assault
DV-Related Assault
0100200300400
Number of incidents
Property Crime
−60%
Retail Theft
−16.2%
Stealing
−11.8%
Percentage decrease since mid-2010s
Sexual Assault
91 → 213
More than doubled since 2016 — a +134% increase
DV-Related Assault
300 → 421
Up 40% over the same period
Property Crime
↓ 60%
Down since the mid-2010s
Retail Theft
↓ 16.2%
Decline in recent years
Stealing
↓ 11.8%
Decline in recent years
Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR)
Crime Statistics
Crime Trends on the Northern Beaches
Crime rates on the Northern Beaches are roughly half the NSW state average or less.
Year ending September 2016 to September 2025
Year ending Sep 2016
Year ending Sep 2025
Number of incidents
Percentage decrease since mid-2010s
Sexual Assault
91 → 213
More than doubled since 2016 — a +134% increase
DV-Related Assault
300 → 421
Up 40% over the same period
Property Crime
↓ 60%
Down since the mid-2010s
Retail Theft
↓ 16.2%
Decline in recent years
Stealing
↓ 11.8%
Decline in recent years
Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR)
Northern Beaches Crime Statistics
Looking at the most recent crime statistics (BOCSAR) and the broader 20-year trends, the Northern Beaches is no crime haven, though any regular reader of our weekly Crime Watch might perceive it differently. Crime rates here are roughly half the state average or less.
The two standout recent declines are retail theft (-16.2%) and other stealing (-11.8%).
However, over the past decade the number of sexual assault incidents recorded annually on the Northern Beaches has more than doubled — rising from 91 incidents in the year to September 2016 to 213 incidents in the year to September 2025, while the annual count of domestic violence-related assault has climbed 40%, from 300 to 421 incidents over the same period. That’s largely improved reporting and policing of the crime; or at least I hope it is.
This matches what McKenzie is seeing on the ground. With property crime down a whopping 60% since the mid-2010s on the Northern Beaches, McKenzie says domestic violence and drink-driving matters are the most common cases he represents.
"There's been a big shift, quite rightly so, in policing of domestic violence in the time we've had this firm. They have taken a really strong approach to it, and so they should," he begins.
He argues that domestic violence are serious and punishable offences "where proven”, but the courts should also hear the full story – mental health, addiction, trauma – because if you can't understand why offending happened, you can't find the best way to reduce reoffending.
I raise a concern, how far does context go before it starts excusing harmful behaviour?
He continues: "As an example, say you have a female client, hypothetically, who has been charged with domestic violence, and they were intoxicated at the time… And it comes to be that they have alcohol use disorder, and the alcohol disorder may well have arisen from child abuse or trauma as a young person. So all these things need to be put before the court, otherwise people just think to themselves, 'Oh, well she or he bashed them and they're really bad,' without getting to the bottom of it all."
There is a common denominator in many alleged offences, he notes, with a touch of concern on his face. Alcohol addiction.
"The reality is, if alcohol didn't exist, the workload in the criminal jurisdiction would be very, very low."
"The reality is, if alcohol didn't exist, the workload in the criminal jurisdiction would be very, very low."
Of course, alcohol isn't the only drug in strong circulation on the beaches, with cocaine a constant in our more affluent area. There's a lot less attention on marijuana than there was previously, particularly with its legalisation for medicinal purposes.
A new complexity with legalised cannabis
Though with that has come an emerging issue: drug driving, and more notably, being charged for drug driving with cannabis (THC) in your system even when several weeks may have passed and the consumption was for a legal, medical use such as chronic pain or inflammation.
Northern Beaches Police were part of drug and drink-driving crackdown in February called Operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers). We don’t have the localised numbers, but the two-day state-wide campaign detected 600 drivers allegedly driving with drugs in their system.
"I'm constantly dealing with people who are on a script for medicinal cannabis but choose to drive. What some people don't understand is that if you're taking medicinal cannabis with THC in it, you can't drive, because a positive test will come back even weeks after it has been used,” McKenzie said.
"We are in a situation where a lot of people will be prescribed the medication from their doctor and receive instructions that they weren't fully appreciative of – in terms of how long it stayed in their system – and they get pulled over, and sure enough, they do the oral test, and they're positive."
I remark that it seems unfair for someone who is not impaired by a drug taken weeks ago to face a drug driving charge.
"The element of the offence is simply that it's present in your system – you don't need to be impaired to be guilty of the offence."
With ignorance of the rules no longer a usable defence in court, McKenzie explains his main focus is usually on recording a non-conviction.
The interview ends as it began – with me committing a minor offence against courtesy. I swear, explain, leap from my chair, and bolt. McKenzie laughs it off with the ease of someone who has heard far worse. I had let time get away from me and was late for my next meeting. It was an honest mistake, and as McKenzie would say – context matters.
