ENOUGH! COURTS MUST GET SERIOUS ABOUT YOUTH CRIME

WILL it take a kiddie car thief mowing down an innocent family before much-needed change occurs to curb rampant youth crime on the Gold Coast?

Or perhaps authorities will wave the white flag, putting the issue in the “too-hard basket” as devastated friends and family bury loved ones.

Sadly, the latter appears to be the case, judging by the piecemeal approach to tackling the juvenile crime crisis plaguing the Gold Coast and the rest of southeast Queensland. Pregnant Kate Leadbetter, 31, and partner Matthew Field, 37, were fatally run down – allegedly by a 17year-old who cannot legally be identified – while walking their dogs in Brisbane in January last year. Since then, it appears little has changed.

Youth justice reforms are having a limited impact at reducing offences, judging by the latest Queensland crime statistics and the prevalence of young people stealing – and often crashing – cars on the Gold Coast.

As a digital producer, I’m early to rise and often the first at the Bulletin to be informed by police of the latest kiddie crook crime spree.

It feels like Groundhog Day. Another morning, another serious car crash involving children in their early teens – or even younger.

Like many, I’m increasingly frustrated. I’m fed up with the slaps on the wrist handed out by our lenient justice system, despite courts claiming they are meeting community expectations.

I’m sick to death of politicians claiming the issue is under control, that everything is fine and peachy.

Releasing young offenders pronto and giving them another chance to make off with stolen property is not the way to deter this sort of crime in our community.

Police are doing what they can, making arrests and putting these children before the courts only to see them released and then rearrested time and again.

Some youths even take to social media to brag about being bailed or to spruik about their latest stolen vehicle.

Of course, the top cops grin and bear it, unwilling to stir the pot too much as their officers spend an inordinate amount of time tailing cars filled with kids barely old enough to be at high school.

Police say youth crime has actually reduced somewhat over the years, but if the juvenile crime rate is down in recent times, it’s still serious enough to be of concern to the Gold Coast community.

There’s no doubt addressing youth crime is complex. Authorities have to navigate tricky social, familial, mental and drug-related issues while attempting to steer kids away from crime.

But it should be a priority. The Gold Coast community – and towns and cities statewide – have demanded it, loud and clear.

They are tired of feeling vulnerable in their own homes, wary of opportunistic kids nicking their keys and vehicles.

Whether it’s the death of another child car thief on the roads – as was the case with 18-year-old Logan Dreier in 2019 – or a member of the community, both are tragic outcomes that must be prevented.

The government owes it to these troubled kids and the communities they live in to go all in to smash the cycle of youth crime.