Teen accused of stealing car with child inside gets bailed after 15 nights in Mount Isa lockup

A teenager accused of driving off in a stolen car containing a toddler, who was later dumped by the side of the road, has been granted bail after he was detained in the Mount Isa watch-house for more than two weeks, seemingly against police protocols.

The teenager was granted bail after he was detained in watch-house for 15 days. File picture

A teenager accused of driving off in a stolen car containing a toddler, who was later dumped by the side of the road, has been granted bail after he was detained in the Mount Isa watch-house for 15 nights seemingly against police protocols.

The 15-year-old, an indigenous boy with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and an acquired brain injury, was charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlawfully taking a child under 16.

Both offences allegedly occurred on New Year’s Eve.

Police allege the owner of the car had left it unlocked with the engine running in the driveway of a Mount Isa home when the 15-year-old and his juvenile co-defendant drove away in the car.

It’s not alleged the 15-year-old was driving, Mount Isa’s Childrens Court heard during an application for bail this week.

At the time the youths allegedly entered the vehicle a three-year-old was in a child seat in the back of the car.

Magistrate Eoin Mac Giolla Ri said while it was not clear the youths knew the child was in the car before they allegedly took it, “ the child’s presence must have been obvious from very shortly after they entered the car”.

Police allege they drove around Mount Isa for 20 to 30 minutes before removing the toddler and “and leaving the child on the side of the street.”

It’s alleged they continued to drive the stolen car around Mount Isa for an unknown period of time before dumping it.

The 15-year-old was charged on January 3 where bail was refused. His lawyer told the court he plans to contest the charges.

The application for bail before Magistrate Mac Giolla Ri was on the basis the teenager had been in the Mount Isa Watchhouse since his arrest and there appeared to be no prospect of getting him to a detention centre in the near future.

The court heard that Queensland Police’s Operational Procedural Manual is clear that children should not be held overnight in a watch-house.

The manual states the detention of a child beyond one night in a watch-house should only ever occur in “extraordinary circumstances”.

The court heard Queensland’s detention centres were at capacity.

Another child has been held in the Mount Isa watch-house since January 1, the court heard.

Police opposed the defendant’s bail application.

The court heard he had a substantial criminal history and was on probation at the time of the alleged offences.

However the court heard he had otherwise been going well on probation and could refrain from offending for extended periods.

Weighing up the issue to grant bail Magistrate Mac Giolla Ri took into account the alleged offence.

“Continuing to drive with the child in the car for even 20 minutes was extraordinarily callous and one can only imagine the profound terror that the child’s parents must have experienced in that period.

However given the defendant’s various intellectual disabilities he was reluctant to find the 15 year old “would have had substantial influence on the decision not to abandon or return the car once it was clear there was a child in the car.”

Given the defendant’s continuing detention in the watch-house, particularly where he has an intellectual disability, Mr Mac Giolla Ri was satisfied certain bail conditions were adequate to release him.

Bail was granted on Thursday.