Serving detention ‘like boarding school’ for Cairns teen

A Cairns court has heard how much a teenage juvenile offender enjoyed serving time in the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

The Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville.

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A CAIRNS court has heard how much a juvenile offender enjoyed serving time in the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre with her lawyer describing it as “like a boarding school”.

The 16-year-old pleaded guilty to four charges in the Cairns District Court this week including an incident at Cairns Central in September last year where she and a co-offender grabbed a woman’s bag, causing her to fall over, then later threatened her with a rock.

The court heard she was on probation at the time for more than 15 offences which she was sentenced for in January that year.

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“You didn’t last too long staying out of trouble,” Judge Dean Morzone said during sentencing.

The court heard the girl, who cannot be identified as she is a juvenile, had a lengthy criminal history and had been placed on various types of orders including community service and probation.

Defence barrister Rachelle Logan said the girl’s father was in jail and she had enjoyed the 59 days she had spent in the Townsville detention facility.

“She considered it like boarding school,” she said.

Judge Morzone that was concerning.

Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville.

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“What troubles me is detention is a place that makes you feel better than being on the outside,” he said.

“And the outside for you is not a pleasant place.

“You use too much alcohol, you’ve tried other drugs — cannabis, spirits, methylated spirits, MDMA — you’re poisoning your body.”

He asked the teen if she had considered what she wanted to do when she grew up, which she replied “no” and what she was good at, which she responded “I don’t know”.

But Ms Logan said even though the girl had previously shown “no remorse” for her offending her attitude had “improved”.

Judge Morzone sentenced her to 18 months probation and did not record a conviction because he said it could jeopardise her future job prospects.

Originally published as Serving detention ‘like boarding school’ for Cairns teen