Death crash teen’s sister faces court
A YOUNG girl taken into custody amid a day of chaos and carnage on Townsville roads is the sister of one of the children involved in a horrific stolen car crash that claimed four young lives last year.
The stolen Kia Sorrento clipped a roundabout, smashed into a pole and flipped in June killing all four passengers.
Only the driver survived.
The 13-year-old girl faces charges including burglary and three unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences and is in custody at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre after she was arrested on Thursday.
She did not appear and made no application for bail as her matter was briefly mentioned in the Townsville Children’s Court yesterday.
Despite the girl being in the care of the Department of Child Safety, no representative of the department attended the proceeding.
Two other teens, both boys aged 13 and 14, fronted court also yesterday after eight cars were stolen and 17 homes broken into over 24 hours in what Magistrate Steven Mosch described as an “escalation” of alleged “outrageous” behaviour of a number of youth offenders across the city.
The 14-year-old boy will remain behind bars after recent changes to Youth Justice legislation hampered his ability to apply for bail.
His lawyer, Merinda Greenwood, attempted to make a bail application but was unable to proceed as the boy’s mother could not be contacted.
The teenager, who was released from the watchhouse on police bail earlier this month, faces six charges including two linked to the spate of alleged offending on Thursday.
At the time the teenager was wanted on a warrant but the prosecutor, his defence and the magistrate could not determine if he was on bail at the time.
New legislation requires the court to speak with the parents of young offenders to ensure the teens will adhere to bail conditions before it can be granted – because of this Ms Greenwood asked for the case to be adjourned to allow the mother to be contacted.
He was remanded in custody at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre and his mother was ordered to attend his next court appearance.
The other boy faced court from custody at the watchouse charged with a single burglary offence.
Magistrate Steven Mosch described the 13-year-old’s criminal history as “shocking”.
He rejected the child’s application for bail and noted that since the boy was bailed in March he failed 13 of 29 police bail compliance checks.
The court was told the boy was before the court as recently as last week and was subject to a handful of court orders including bail when he allegedly stole a car in the early hours of May 12.
The car was involved in a string of offences committed across Townsville over recent days.
While the 13-year-old is accused of stealing the vehicle, the boy’s defence lawyer, Ms Greenwood, noted he had not been charged with anything more than the single burglary offence.
The matters for all three children will return to court next week.