FURY AT YOUNG CRIMS

Low conviction rate labelled slap on the wrist

CAIRNS’ kid crims are escaping conviction in court at alarming rates despite racking up thousands of charges.

In one year, youth justice figures show only 55 convictions even though the police brought 2675 charges to the courts.

Palm Cove Neighbourhood Watch area co-ordinator and former Victorian police chief inspector Mark Ellwood says it is a “slap on the wrist” approach that allows prolific juvenile offenders off scot-free.

YOUTH Justice data reveals that only 55 convictions were recorded against offences dealt with in the Cairns Children’s Court in one year.

This is despite 2675 charges lodged during the 2015-16 financial year.

Palm Cove Neighbourhood Watch area co-ordinator and former Victorian police chief inspector Mark Ellwood said this was a “slap on the wrist” approach that allowed prolific juvenile offenders to be treated as “cleanskins” in adult courts.

In the 2014-15 financial year, the Cairns Children’s Court recorded convictions against 80 of the 2289 offences submitted.

“That’s far from satisfactory,” Mr Ellwood said.

“They’ve been considered by the courts as being juvenile. Well, they’re not juvenile, they’re far from juvenile. They’re actually very hard recidivist offenders.

“They are people with five or six pages of criminal history … (and) are weekly offenders.”

Under the state’s Youth Justice system, a person’s juvenile criminal history is only admissible in the adult courts if convictions are recorded.

It is not uncommon for 17year-old offenders with pages of criminal history but no recorded convictions.

“That’s just plainly ridiculous,” Mr Ellwood, who has 35 years of police experience, said.

“There’s groups of two or three that are doing multiple car thefts and burglaries … these people will do six or eight jobs in an evening.”

Mr Ellwood said the community was left with the bill.

“We pay for it with our insurance policies, replacing stolen or damaged items,” he said.

“It’s got to be addressed at the Attorney-General’s level.”

A spokeswoman for the Attorney-General said data showed a 13 per cent reduction in youth offending in the Cairns area over the past 12 months.

“There has also been a 10 per cent reduction in the number of offenders over the past year in Cairns,” she said.

“Residents have a right to feel safe in their communities and we recognise that the best way to tackle these issues is to implement … policies that hold young people accountable for their behaviour while also addressing the underlying causes of their offending.”

She said the Transition 2 Success program, which was in Cairns, Atherton and Aurukun, engaged at-risk youth offenders with education and training and 80 per cent of graduates had returned to school, gone onto further training or have gained employment.