Colin James: Attorney-General John Rau should be applauded for moving to fix laws used to sentence juvenile offenders

OPINION: Attorney General John Rau should be applauded for moving to fix the glaring discrepancies with laws used to sentence juvenile offenders in adult courts.

ATTORNEY-General John Rau should be applauded for moving to fix the glaring discrepancies with laws used to sentence juvenile offenders in adult courts.

The decision is the direct result of the ludicrous sentence handed to the stoned, 16-year-old recidivist criminal who killed Nicole Tucker by driving a stolen ute into her vehicle at 180km/h.

The sentence sent a message to other young idiots who take drugs, steal cars and drive at ridiculous speeds through Adelaide that they can get away with it virtually scot free.

Worse still, it told families of innocent people who are killed or seriously injured when these reckless, selfish morons plough into their vehicles that the loss of their loved ones is not worth fighting for.

Director of Public Prosecutions Adam Kimber this morning announced he had decided not to appeal the sentence because, legally, he didn’t have much prospect of winning.

It was a surprising decision, as it would have given several judges from the Supreme Court the opportunity to dissect the laws used to sentence juvenile offenders in adult courts.

Mr Rau — who, no doubt, consulted Mr Kimber beforehand — subsequently has told The Advertiser he will ask State Parliament to overhaul the Young Offenders Act.

For herein lies the problem.

Most juvenile offenders are sentenced in the Youth Court under the Young Offenders Act. When they are transferred to the District Court to be sentenced they have still been dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.

Mr Rau has recognised that this procedure needs to be changed so, when young offenders under the age of 18 appear in adult courts for sentencing, they are treated exactly as that — adults.

Otherwise, what is the point of police prosecutors asking for them to be transferred? Just keep them in the Youth Court.

In the case of the youth who killed Mrs Tucker, Judge Joanne Tracey — a former civil lawyer and magistrate — jailed him for three years, four months and one week under the Young Offenders Act.

The legislation makes it compulsory for a sentencing judge to make the potential rehabilitation of a juvenile offender the priority rather than punitive punishment.

Judge Tracey imposed a 18-month non-parole period, citing the requirements of the Young Offenders Act to take into consideration his “care, correction and guidance”.

This was backdated to when the youth was taken into custody after driving a stolen ute into Mrs Tucker’s vehicle at the Bedford Park exit of the Southern Expressway on October 6 last year.

This means the youth is likely to spend around 10 months in custody before being eligible to apply for parole next April.

Mr Kimber apparently decided that legal criticism cannot be levelled at Judge Tracey for the sentence she handed down as she acted within the Young Offenders Act.

As a result, he decided not to appeal what the vast majority of people saw as a manifestly inadequate sentence for such a horrendous and tragic crime.

Nicole Tucker and a statement released by her distraught family after her death.

The offender is a youth who has shown no respect for the law or society since he was 12 years old. He has a rap sheet to rival the members of the notorious Gang of 49. In fact, he is related to some of them.

Yes, he may come from a dysfunctional background. Yes, he may have family issues. Yes, he may have had a poor education. Yes, he may have had a rough childhood.

But does he really have any chance of rehabilitation? Who is going to make him see the errors of his ways, to teach him to be remorseful, to become more responsible?

Herein, lies a separate issue.

If this youth is anything like the other criminals who were part of the Gang of 49 and now the so-called Gang of 22, chances are he will come out of his latest stint in youth detention next April and get straight back into crime.

This is a kid who got stoned and, with his brother, stole a high-powered ute from a house in the southern suburbs, drove it so fast down the Southern Expressway that a motorcycle police officer pulled out of a chase and kept driving at an obscene speed until he hit and killed Mrs Tucker.

His brother then decided to help start a riot inside the Cavan Youth Training Centre. These are hardly model citizens.

Two critical issues need to be sorted out.

The first, as recognised by Mr Rau, is the Young Offenders Act and whether it should apply to youths sent to the District Court or Supreme Court for sentencing.

If they are going to be treated as adults, then use laws which apply to adults like the Criminal Law Consolidation Act. They carry heavier and harsher sentences.

Sentence these young, hard-core criminals who kill or maim people to lengthy periods in prison.

Manslaughter involving a motor vehicle can carry up to 20 years if you are an adult.

Few would disagree that this particular youth should have been treated as an adult and been locked away for a significant period of time.

Secondly, rehabilitation must be a key factor when dealing with juvenile offenders. But if the crime is so serious, then get expert opinions on whether it is a realistic prospect.

And don’t make attending educational and vocational courses or drug and alcohol treatment optional. Make it compulsory. By court order.

But first, if so much emphasis is placed within the Young Offenders Act on rehabilitation, particularly with young Aboriginal offenders, then start providing the funding and programs to actually make it happen.

Anyone involved in the criminal justice system will tell you that many of the recommendations from the Breaking the Cycle report, developed to combat the Gang of 49, are yet to be implemented — 10 years after it was written.

It is time Mr Rau and his Cabinet colleagues took action in their respective portfolios if further tragedies like the death of Nicole Tucker are to be avoided.

Sending troublesome youths into prison for longer periods will only solve part of the problem.

Colin James is Opinion Editor of The Advertiser