Judge invited teen robber to perform welcome to country at own sentencing

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is considering their response after a teen who robbed two elderly women was invited to give a welcome to country by the sentencing judge.

Taree Courthouse.

An Indigenous teen being sentenced for robbing two elderly women and sexually touching one was invited to give a welcome to country in a regional NSW courtroom before he was told his sentence.

The teen was being sentenced for multiple break and enters — two of which involved a 92-year-old woman and an 88-year-old woman — at Taree District Court.

He also admitted to sexually touching the younger of the two women during the frightening ordeal.

Judge Penelope Wass was presiding over the sentence proceedings after the teen pleaded guilty to the offences, averting a trial.

During the sentence proceedings, Judge Wass invited the teen to give a welcome to country, before she reportedly said he was welcome to do so again in any court she presided over.

Taree Courthouse.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions — which prosecuted the teen’s case — issued a brief statement after the incident came to light.

“The ODPP is currently considering the judgment,” the spokeswoman said.

Children who are charged with serious offences can be sentenced in the Children’s Court of NSW or the District or Supreme Courts.

Judge Wass accepted a defence request to deal with the matter according to penalties available under children’s criminal proceedings legislation, rather than at law with the maximum penalties available to adults for the same offences.

The maximum penalty that can be imposed on a child for any one offence is two years in detention. For more than one offence, three years in detention is the maximum penalty.

The teen was sentenced to a two-year control order with a non-parole period of 12 months to conclude on September 24, which allowed Judge Wass to direct the boy to be immediately released on parole.

2GB Breakfast host Ben Fordham. Picture: Gaye Gerard

It comes as 2GB Breakfast host Ben Fordham described the incident as “a shocker” during his Friday show.

“This violent offender was facing some extremely serious charges, he was about to learn his fate, but before getting down to business, he’s invited to give a welcome to country,” Fordham said.

The radio host said one senior legal source told him they had “never seen anything like it”.

“We’re talking about an offender who terrorised two elderly women, an 88-year-old and a 92-year-old,” Fordham said.

“Maybe it’s a good thing that the victims were not in court, because you can only imagine their shock and disgust.”

The NSW District Court was contacted for comment.

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