Boy, 16, to face carjack charges
A TEENAGER who was released after an alleged stolen car rampage has been linked to a violent carjacking that left a middle-aged woman injured.
Townsville Police have charged the 16-year-old boy with an additional five charges, including armed robbery and assault, after he allegedly pulled a knife on the 55-yearold woman as she walked back to her car at a medical centre about 5pm on Thursday.
The same boy was charged with trespassing on Sunday after he allegedly fled from the wreckage of a stolen Volkswagen Amarok after it crashed at the front of Centrelink, Aitkenvale.
The Amarok was spotted travelling down the wrong side of the road, driven dangerously and was involved in a crash with a police car.
It eventually crashed in the carpark of the Elizabeth Street complex after smashing into a traffic light pole.
Four teenagers ran from the car, including two who allegedly hid under a nearby house. All of the suspects were arrested a short time later.
The boy was released from police custody on Sunday after he had been charged with trespassing.
He was allegedly involved in the latest incident four days later. That is when he is alleged to have assaulted the middle-aged woman in the car park of a Ross River Road medical clinic.
It will be alleged the boy got into her car and started it, but was stopped by a woman who intervened.
She was also assaulted.
The boy allegedly fled into a nearby park area with a teenage girl and police swarmed the area.
The teen was arrested a short time later, but the girl allegedly hid in long grass.
The dog squad was called in to find the girl, but she surrendered and was taken into custody.
The boy has been charged with armed robbery, assault occasioning bodily harm, stealing, possessing tainted property and possessing a knife in a public place.
He has been refused police bail and faced Townsville Children’s Court on Friday.
The teenage girl was released without charge pending further investigations.
HINCHINBROOK MP Nick Dametto has called for public hearings on the state government’s youth justice bill to be held in North Queensland.
The Katter’s Australian Party MP said it would be unacceptable if the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee confined hearings to Brisbane given the youth crime crisis in Townsville.
“There needs to be a recognition of the extent of this problem with multiple hearings in our region,” Mr Dametto said.
“I want people in Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Mt Isa, Doomadgee, the Gulf and anywhere else where crime is out of control to be able to have their say.
“As far as I’m concerned, if the public hearings are confined to the southeast, the committee will give the impression they aren’t interested in getting honest feedback on the merits of this bill.”
Mr Dametto said he feared “do-gooders” and “bleeding hearts” would dominate the hearings if ordinary people, including victims of crime, weren’t involved.
The committee is due table its report on April 9. to