KID CRIMS’ FREE PASS
NEW LAWS MAKE IT TOO HARD TO PUNISH CHILDREN
AN 11-year-old Townsville boy who allegedly tried to rob a fish and chip shop at knifepoint had been released on bail 10 times since his alleged bout of offending began in October last year.
His latest round of alleged offences came days after the Townsville Bulletin revealed he had been released on bail after allegedly holding his carers to ransom with a screwdriver. The staggering number of times the boy has been released has forced the State Government to defend its new bail laws, which police and lawyers say make it much harder to keep kids behind bars.
NEW youth justice laws are making it harder to hold kids in custody, police and lawyers have said, in contradiction of what Labor politicians have been claiming.
The State Government has been forced to defend amendments it made to the Youth Justice Act last year after revelations an 11-year-old boy who allegedly brandished a knife while trying to rob a Heatley fish and chip shop had been granted bail 10 times before his recent weekend of alleged illegal activity.
Police officers and lawyers have told the Bulletin the new youth justice bail laws had instead added an extra layer of considerations when denying a child bail, making it difficult to keep them in custody, despite what Labor MPS have been saying.
Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper often refers to Section 48 of the Youth Justice Act claiming it ensures those who pose a serious risk of reoffending will not be released on bail, but lawyers say it’s a subsection of that law that has raised the bar when it comes to keeping kids in custody, particularly if the child is under 14 years.
Mr Harper could not be reached yesterday.
Criticising the changes as “hastily written”, causing the Act to in parts not make sense, lawyers say the laws were a knee-jerk reaction by the State Government after it was embarrassed into action by Four Corners report into kids languishing in watchhouses.
The intention of the laws, which came into effect on December 16, were to keep children out of detention, particularly watch-houses, and while that has been achieved, police officers have questioned if politicians realised the impact they would have in places like Townsville.
“All the courts and the lawyers are doing is following the letter of the law … what gets our goat up is when (politicians) blame the courts basically to save their jobs,” a Townsville lawyer said.
Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer ( pictured) said the Act was “very clear” that community safety comes first and “if young people need to be held in custody to protect the community they can and should be”.
She said of the five young people that appeared in Townsville Children’s Court yesterday, four were not granted bail.
In June last year, when legislation was first unveiled, Ms Farmer said it would “help remove barriers that may contribute to children being refused bail, breaching bail conditions or remaining in detention on remand for an extended period, including in watch-houses”.
“Importantly, the Bill retains judicial and police discretion to ensure community safety when making decisions about bail.
“But wherever it is possible and safe to do so, we want young people out of detention, especially when they have not yet been convicted of an offence.”
North Queensland Opposition spokesman and Burdekin MP Dale Last said the release of the young boy on bail 10 times was “unequivocal proof that Labor’s policies are an abject failure”.