BAIL HOUSE FAIL
Girl on remand goes AWOL, arrested for crime spree
A TEENAGE girl allegedly ran away from one of Townsville’s controversial youth bail houses before stealing a car linked to a violent crime rampage.
The 13- year- old was yesterday charged with a string of offences including burglary, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and stealing.
The Bulletin understands the girl had been reported missing from the youth bail house on Gulliver St, Mundingburra five days earlier.
Police will allege the 13- yearold and a 14- year- old girl stole a red Holden Commodore on Wheeler Court, Kirwan some time after 10.30pm on Thursday June 14.
The Commodore was allegedly involved in two fuel drive offs at 3am and 6am on Friday. Police will also allege the car was connected to several armed robberies that same morning, however the 13- year- old girl has not been directly linked to these offences.
The 14- year- old was arrested on June 16 and charged with six offences including stealing and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
The 13- year- old was picked up by police at about midday on Monday and charged with burglary and committing an indictable offence, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and two counts of stealing.
The bail house the 13- year- old ran away from is one of two multimilliondollar properties in Townsville opened by the State Government in response to the high number of children on remand in North Queensland.
Young people who could be considered for bail, but do not have a suitable place to go, can be remanded to live in the bail houses instead of Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.
A Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women spokeswoman said the bail houses had a 7pm curfew.
“Young people residing at Supervised Community Accommodation ( SCA) must abide by court- ordered strict conditions when bailed to these facilities, which can include curfews, and they must participate in rehabilitation activities such as education and programs,” she said.
The spokeswoman said there was CCTV outside each facility and young people were subject to bag and room searches.
“Facilities work in partnership with Queensland Police Service in the event of bail breaches,” she said.
The spokeswoman said each young person had a 24- hour planned schedule.
“Young people are carefully assessed for suitability for placement in SCA,” she said.
“Decisions on which young people can be placed in SCA are made by the courts.”
LNP Shadow Attorney- General David Janetzki said there should be an investigation into last week’s incident before bail houses were rolled out further across the state. “It’s not surprising to hear these kinds of reports,” he said.
“We knew having young offenders on bail living in the community was a risky idea.”
Mr Janetzki said the bail houses were a “Band- Aid solution” to overcrowded detention centres.
“Youth justice is a sensitive and complex policy area, but it’s been in three years of complete chaos under Annastacia Palaszczuk’s watch,” he said. “( The LNP) believe in more early intervention to stop the revolving door of youth crime and help get young offenders back on track before it’s too late is the way to go.”