Townsville Children’s Court: 14yo repeat offender claims she’s never heard of tough new youth crime laws

A 14-year-old Townsville girl with a 10-page criminal history simply shook her head when asked if she heard about Queensland’s new ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ laws. Read why she was in court this time.

A 14-year-old Townsville girl with a 10-page criminal history simply shook her head when asked if she heard about Queensland’s new ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ laws.

The teen pleaded guilty to 23 charges in the Townsville Children’s Court on Tuesday, including 19 breaches of bail and one count each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, wilful damage, receiving tainted property and public nuisance.

Magistrate Viviana Keegan, sentencing her case, pointedly asked the girl whether she knew about Queensland’s tough new youth crime laws.

“Have you heard about the changes to the law? Adult Crime, Adult Time. Have you heard of that?” Magistrate Keegan asked.

The girl, appearing via video link, simply shook her head in response.

The court heard she had a 10-page criminal history, with seven prior charges for unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Despite this, she had previously avoided detention and was given a community service order for unlawfully using a motor vehicle in April 2024.

The charges she pleaded guilty to on Tuesday reveal a troubling pattern of repeat offending in the final months of 2024.

On November 29, she and another female were caught vandalising a business in Thuringowa Central with black and blue spray paint. When questioned by police, she reportedly said, “I did it because it was fun.”

On December 10, she and a group of three or four children were involved in a public nuisance incident at Coles Express in Garbutt at 3.15am, kicking doors, shouting, and throwing objects at the service station.

On December 15, CCTV captured her walking toward Muffin Break in Townsville Shopping Centre at 6.52pm. Just two minutes later, she was seen walking away, opening a blue bag containing $532 in stolen cash.

The court heard her older sister was allegedly her co-offender in the incident.

Only two days later she was found inside a stolen Toyota boxed in by police at Mangrove Street and Mitchell Street in North Ward at 7.50pm.

This occurred just four days after Queensland’s new youth crime laws came into effect on December 13.

The court heard that she had been in custody for 62 days since her most recent arrest on December 17.

Her defence stated that she now realised her so-called friends had abandoned her, leaving her wanting to listen to her mother’s guidance.

“She said to me, she has been running around with her friends, and now she says her friends are nowhere to be found. She wants to listen to her mum because she realises that her friends haven’t stuck by her,” her lawyer told the court.

Magistrate Keegan acknowledged the role of her friends and older sister in her descent into crime.

“You sort of run with the wrong crowd, and I think your sister’s got some of the blame for that,” she said.

“But you’ve got a mum that loves you. You’ve got a home, and I know from speaking to mum over many months, over years now, that you just don’t follow her rules. You take off at night, and the second that you take off at night, that’s when trouble happens.”

The girl was sentenced to nine months of probation, with an immediate release date, and ordered to complete five hours of graffiti removal as part of a community service order for the wilful damage charge. No convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Townsville Children’s Court: 14yo repeat offender claims she’s never heard of tough new youth crime laws