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ABC News
26-07-2025
- ABC News
One week in the NT's Youth Justice Court shows effects of tough bail laws
It's a Tuesday morning, the time most kids would be in their first class at school. But in the Northern Territory's Youth Justice Court, children arrested overnight are being brought before a judge. Sitting in the dock is year 6 student Molly*. She is 12 years old, and last night spent her first night in a police watch house. Her mum has come to court, and the judge has allowed Molly to hold her baby sibling for a few minutes while lawyers debate whether she should be released on bail. It can be difficult to reconcile the small, softly spoken children who appear in youth court with the crimes they are sometimes accused of committing A 14-year-old charged with rape; a 15-year-old accused of attacking a young girl with a claw hammer — these are real examples of the disturbing level of violence allegedly perpetrated by children in the NT. But the bulk of young people who come before the courts are charged with far less serious offences, and often they have been victims of crime themselves. After observing 100 cases in the Youth Justice Court over the course of a week in July, some glaring issues emerge. The ABC observed a number of young people were not assessed for cognitive impairment or mental illness, despite court orders. Territory Criminal Lawyers senior lawyer Jenna McHugh, who regularly represents young people, said court-ordered assessments were critical. "They can significantly influence the court's decisions when it comes to sentencing, rehabilitation and referrals," she said. Ms McHugh said a few years ago an assessment would have taken six weeks, but could now take up to year, and in some cases were unable to be completed at all. In one case observed by the ABC, the court heard a 17-year-old girl whose mother had provided evidence of pre-natal alcohol abuse had waited 16 months for an assessment for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). A psychologist working for the Department of Corrections told the court they did not have access to the multi-disciplinary team needed to diagnose children with FASD. It also heard there were only two external service providers in the NT that could conduct FASD assessments for children going through the courts, and both had waitlists in excess of six months. In another case, Lola*, 15, had spent time in and out of custody over the robbery of a service station, and was supposed to receive a mental health assessment in April. The court heard she had been exposed to drug abuse as a young child but would be unlikely to have a mental health assessment due to a lack of qualified staff. Lola pleaded guilty later that day without a report. "We're effectively dealing with that young person and sentencing them blindly when it comes to their cognitive ability and their mental health," Ms McHugh said. NT Children's Commissioner Shahleena Musk said understanding if a child had a severe mental illness or disability was vitally important to the sentencing process. "The court desperately needs this information to inform their decision making … and to craft an order that is fit for the nature of the offence, the impact on the victim, and also the needs of this young person," she said. Having worked as a prosecutor and a defence lawyer representing young people in court, Ms Musk said court-ordered assessments were also essential in reducing recidivism. "If we're going to stop young people offending, we need to look at what's happened to them and how to address their needs … otherwise, we will see young people reoffend, and reoffend more seriously," she said. In a statement, the NT Department of Corrections said a high volume of complex cases had "overwhelmed the current assessment capacity". The Department said efforts to recruit its assessment team were being hampered by the small pool of available and appropriately qualified psychiatric, neurological, and forensic staff in the NT. One of the most common questions judges in the Youth Justice Court are asked to consider is whether to release a young person on bail. With some of the strictest bail laws in Australia, a shrinking number of rehabilitation programs, and a cohort of young people with complex needs, bail is becoming increasingly rare. In one example, a teenager named Andy* who struggled with addiction and had already spent several months on remand due to procedural delays was denied bail due to a lack of rehabilitation programs in the Top End. Andy's lawyer told the court his client had spent his 16th birthday behind bars and was facing more time on remand, where he wasn't receiving adequate help. Judge Thomasin Opie denied bail because he said Andy's risk of reoffending was high in circumstances where there were no programs on offer that could cater to his needs. "In circumstances where the bail laws preclude the court from granting bail, in the circumstances where no programs are being funded [to support] children on bail … children are left to languish," she said. Ms McHugh said the situation was also concerning from a community safety perspective. "These kids are growing up in detention and they're going to become adults who reoffend, and the offending is just going to get worse because no one is addressing any of their needs effectively," she said. She said recent changes making it harder for young people to receive bail would only "kick the can down the road". *Names have been changed. NT law prevents media from publishing information that could identify a young person before the court.
ABC News
13-05-2025
- ABC News
Teen charged with machete robbery denied bail as tough new NT bail laws kick in
A teenager who allegedly robbed a bottle shop armed with a machete, after the rehabilitation program he was successfully completing was defunded, has been denied bail under strict new Northern Territory laws. The NT parliament passed the new bail laws last month in response to an unrelated case — the fatal stabbing of Darwin supermarket owner Linford Feick during a confrontation with an alleged thief. Phillip Randel Maurice Parry, 18, has since been charged with his murder and will return to court on June 25. Under the new laws, judges must have "a high degree of confidence" that alleged offenders will not "endanger the safety of the community" before granting bail. The reforms also removed a requirement for courts to only remand youths in custody "as a last resort". In separate cases before the Youth Justice Court on Monday, two teenage boys were denied bail to enter rehabilitation programs. Lawyer for both boys, Jenna McHugh, asked judge Thomasin Opie to grant her clients bail, saying critical staffing shortages at the youth detention facility in Holtze meant young detainees were being locked down for 23 hours a day. She said one of the boys — a 15-year-old with diagnosed depression and ADHD — was not receiving regular education at the facility and had been denied pencils and paper in his cell. The teenager is facing an aggravated robbery charge for allegedly brandishing a machete inside a Celebrations bottle shop. While acknowledging the seriousness of the allegation, Ms McHugh said the rehabilitation facility would provide a "semi-custodial" setting and the teenager was willing to follow strict conditions including a curfew, electronic monitoring and alcohol and drug tests. Judge Opie noted the teenager had last year been bailed to attend a rehabilitative program, in which he went on to become "one of our success stories". But she said the program had since been defunded, resulting in the teenager's supports being pulled. "That's when his reoffending commenced," she said. Prosecutor Damien Jones told the court he had "no confidence" the teenager would comply with the bail conditions and insisted community safety was paramount, despite the boy's positive history. "Where there has been the use of bladed weapons, it has resulted in people's deaths," he said. Ms McHugh argued community safety would be better protected by rehabilitating young alleged offenders. "If he gets out and doesn't go to [rehabilitation] and doesn't receive support … then the community is at greater risk, in my submission, than they would otherwise be," she said. But in denying bail, Judge Opie said while the conditions for young people on remand were "not conducive" to rehabilitation or mental health, the test set by the new laws had not been met. Another 15-year-old boy charged with serious offences, including aggravated robbery, was also denied bail on Monday, despite being deemed suitable for the rehabilitation program. Ms McHugh said the teenager had been on remand for more than a month and had experienced "significant bullying" during that period. She said the NT government's Specialist Assessment and Treatment team had previously declined to assess him for autism and his lawyers were seeking advice from an independent paediatrician. "Those appointments have to keep on getting put off because he's in custody," she said. The teenager appeared in person before the court and told Judge Opie he had overcome his reliance on drugs while in custody. "I would just like to say that the time you have given me in detention has really given me time to think about the plan of what I should do with my life," he said. But prosecutor Garmmeni Alakiotis said the teenager had previously been unable to comply with strict bail conditions and posed "a real risk" of further violent offending. "As mentioned earlier today on previous matters, the court has to consider the safety of the community," she said.
