Teen facing charges after school attack

THE principal of a Far North college set upon by a group of vandals over the weekend has declared the school was “good to go” despite damage.

Redlynch State College executive principal Michael Hansen said he was saddened the “proud” school had become the target of petty criminals, but vowed the “senseless” rampage would not stop students returning on Monday. It comes as a 19-year-old Redlynch man was charged over the incident that left multiple buildings and windows smashed.

“The sad thing about it seems to be it was done purely for their own entertainment, it was senseless,” he said. “Nothing was taken or stolen.

“The school community is very proud of the college and its standing in the community so there were a lot of disappointed families after seeing it.”

Officers from the Cairns property crime squad apprehended the teenage man on Monday after investigations into the unlawful entry and vandalism. It is the second time this year the school has been targeted by vandals.

It will be alleged the teen was in the company of others when entry was forced to a building at the school

“A significant amount of damage was caused to the building after the group allegedly used bricks to smash windows and electrical fittings,” a Queensland police spokesman said.

He was charged with entering a premises and committing an indictable offence and will appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on April 15.

Mr Hansen said a new science and innovation hub was extensively damaged and one classroom had every window pane destroyed. External lights were also ripped out.

However, all windows had already been replaced and the damage was unlikely to stop the launch of the new science centre in June – which will house chemistry and marine science labs, and a makers space for robotics and coding.

“The school has been pretty much cleaned up, all the windows are back in and we are good to go,” he said.

“The department and Qbuild move very quickly when these type of things happen as to not disrupt schooling, so we are grateful.”