New juvenile sentencing laws will be in force ahead of any trial for fatal Parafield crash, Government says
NEW laws allowing juveniles to be sentenced as adults should be in force in time to deal with those responsible for the horrific Parafield hit-run crash that killed an innocent mother.
- Tears and tributes for the victim of this tragedy, Lucy Paveley
- Latest on the investigation: Five teens charged with manslaughter
NEW laws allowing juveniles to be sentenced as adults should be in force in time to deal with those responsible for a horrific crash that killed a woman on Sunday morning, the State Government says.
Attorney-General John Rau has introduced the changes to State Parliament, and says they could be passed through the Lower House when sitting resumes in late September.
They could be approved by the Upper House in early October, and take effect ahead of any trial over the Parafield smash which killed 40-year-old Mawson Lakes mother Lucy Paveley as she drove to work on Sunday morning.
Police arrested a 14-year-old boy and charged him with manslaughter on Monday, while an Ingle Farm boy, 13, has been arrested and is being interviewed by police.
Mr Rau on Monday said he had received new legal advice that confirmed “any further offenders who are youths can be tried as adults if the court thinks their offending is serious enough”.
“All that we are waiting for now is the Bill to pass the Parliament,” he said.
“The notion that somebody can steal a vehicle, and then drive something which weighs several tonnes around the place at very high speed and crash into somebody else going about their ordinary business is just so grotesquely unacceptable.”
“The public expect these people to be dealt with in a serious way and they are clearly a risk to the public.”
Mr Rau said the current arrangement, where juveniles can be tried in adult courts but still be sentenced as youths, needed to change and come into line with mainstream public opinion.
“In some circumstances, the offending of these young people is so gross that they need to be dealt with as adults, and that’s what we’re seeking to achieve,” he said. “The community has an expectation about these people being dealt with severely by the law.
“That expectation is completely reasonable, and the Government intends to deliver on that.”