Lockup ‘breached youth’s rights’, judge

A judge has ordered the immediate release of an 18-year-old held in solitary detention in the Christchurch Police Station cells for seven days.

Judge Robert Murfitt said yesterday he believed keeping the teenager by himself in police cells was breaching the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The judge took rapid measures to get the youth released on bail when all efforts to find him somewhere else to go failed. He stood the case down for three hours so authorities could check if the teen could stay with family, but an aunt could not be reached, and the youth’s mother was asked if he could stay with her on a ‘‘supported bail arrangement’’.

The mother did not arrive at court for the later sitting, and the judge said he was not willing to hold the youth in custody any longer.

The serious offending – a sexual violation by rape – that brought the teenager into the Youth Court happened two years ago, when he was 16.

There had been nothing to indicate he posed a risk to public safety since, the judge said.

‘‘I’m very concerned about the risk to your own safety and the obligation of the court to comply with the United Nations convention,’’ he said.

The youth will return to the Youth

‘‘From the police perspective, this is not satisfactory . . .’’ Senior constable at Youth Court sitting

Court on March 23.

‘‘From the police perspective, this is not satisfactory – seven days in the cells and it’s not a hotel,’’ the senior constable at yesterday’s Youth Court sitting.

At a remand appearance on Tuesday, Judge Murfitt heard the teen had been confined to the cell, without any books, music, pens, or paper.

When the judge asked the youth whether anything had changed on Friday, he replied he had been given the book Divergent, a futuristic thriller in which a young woman joins a revolt against a cruel, authoritarian government.

Judge Murfitt said the court, as as an agency of the State, had an obligation to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

‘‘The solitary detention of a young man like [suppressed] in the police cells for such an extended period of time is totally unacceptable and does not comply with the State’s obligations under that convention.’’

The teen has been under a therapeutic plan and regular Youth Court Judge Jane McMeeken has had continued interest in the case and was judicially monitoring his rehabilitation.

The youth had been breaching his bail conditions and failing to comply with his obligations to attend his courses.

‘‘His mother has thrown up her hands in dismay and has withdrawn her consent to have him stay at home.’’

Because no other places were available, he ended up in the police cells last weekend.

Child, Youth and Family youth justice support general manager Chris Polaschek said there were vacancies in Te Puna Wai, which accommodated youth aged 14 to 17 years, and had been all week.

In a statement, Polaschek said a young person needing a placement was not a reason to place them in a secure custodial facility.

‘‘There are circumstances where an 18 year old might be placed in a residence where firstly, it is a permitted activity for that residence under the resource consent and secondly where the individuals particular circumstances made it the appropriate course of action. This would be a rare situation and each case would need to be considered on its merits.’’

Last year, a 15-year-old boy spent at least six days in solitary confinement in Christchurch’s police cells because there was nowhere else to put him.

Judge Murfitt also accused the Government of breaching the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.