Two youth expected to appear before the Townsville Supreme Court have been arrested

Two of the 13 youths released have been charged with burglary and one has been released on bail again. Here’s the latest.

Police will challenge the bail of young people today.

ONE of the two children who was expected to have their bail challenged by Queensland Police Service is back on the streets.

The two youths, aged 16 and 14, were arrested on Saturday afternoon after they allegedly broke into two homes.

They allegedly stole $163 from one house, before allegedly taking car keys from another and rummaging through a vehicle.

This comes as an appeal to oppose their bail by the Queensland Police Service is delayed by a week.

The 16-year-old, referred to as A, and the 14 year old, referred to as B, were released on February 9 by Magistrate Viviana Keegan, along with 11 other young people.

Magistrate Viviana Keegan. Picture: Twitter

The children were released from both the watch-house and Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

Within a day, one of the children had reoffended.

B had been in the watch-house on remand for 34 days at the time.

On Monday, B was given a 24-hour curfew with his matters to be heard in court again on March 2.

Both teens were under the care of Child Safety at the time of the offending.

Magistrate Viviana Keegan is considering an electronic monitoring device for A. His matter will be before the courts again on Wednesday.

Very little information relating to the pair’s charges was read out when they appeared in court on Monday afternoon.

Queensland Police were expected to oppose the bail of A and B in the Townsville Supreme Court before Justice David North on Monday morning, but the matter was delayed after the pair were arrested.

Representatives for Queensland Police, Youth Justice, the Attorney-General, the Human Rights Commission, and the children all appeared before Justice North.

However, the matter was adjourned while the children’s cases were heard in the magistrates court.

Late Monday afternoon, Justice North said he would adjourn the matters until next Monday, when he was sitting in Mackay.

Justice North will be on a Mackay circuit for two weeks from March 28.

Queensland Police will oppose the bail of A and B, but a new application will be made following the fresh release of B.

Police to challenge youth shock bail release in supreme court

THE Queensland Police Service will challenge the bail of two youths who were let out on bail in a shock move by a Townsville magistrate earlier this month.

The Townsville Bulletin can reveal the Queensland Police Service is expected to formally oppose the bail of two of the 13 youths released from the Townsville watch-house and Cleveland Youth Detention Centre on Thursday, February 9 by Magistrate Viviana Keegan.

However, Townsville residents may never hear the outcome, with the Department of Justice telling the Bulletin a decision had been made to close the supreme court for the hearing.

While the Children’s Court of Queensland, overseen by a magistrate, is closed to the public and media without application, if a case is serious enough to reach district and supreme courts, it is usually an open court unless the judge or justice makes the decision to hold a closed session.

Police are expected to challenge the bail of teenagers released on Monday.

The matter will go before Justice David North in the Townsville Supreme Court on Monday.

Police sources revealed last week Magistrate Viviana Keegan had “cracked the s——ts” and brought the matters forward, releasing 13 young people on bail.

Justice David North

The youths were between 13 and 17, with at least one of the children understood to be a serious repeat offender with an extensive history of failing to comply with bail conditions.

Nine of the children had been in the Townsville watch-house, while the other four were in Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

The children, two of whom were girls, were largely being held for alleged property offences such as car theft and armed robbery, although at least one had been charged with a domestic violence offence.

The release of the children caused significant outrage in the Townsville community and within the state government.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles came under fire after he labelled the move as a “media stunt” and said Magistrate Keegan was putting the “community of Townsville in danger”.

“We’ve given them the tools and the resources, now they need to act,” he said.

The legal community were swift to attack Mr Miles, saying it was “direct and egregious contempt” of the court process and went against the tenet of the separation of powers.

Originally published as Two youth expected to appear before the Townsville Supreme Court have been arrested