Youth crims escape court and tougher penalties with police cautions

One in four youth criminals who admit offences never face court due to police releasing them with a “caution”, a process sparking unrest among the ranks and a Gold Coast criminologist.

One in four youth criminals who admit to committing criminal offences never face court due to police releasing them with a “caution”, a process sparking unrest among the ranks and a Gold Coast criminologist.

One of the teenagers involved in a sickening gang bashing at Burleigh Heads on Australia Day, which left two boys in hospital with serious injuries, escaped with a police caution, the Bulletin reported on Saturday.

Under the Youth Justice Act, police have discretion to issue juveniles with an official caution so long as the child admits the offence and consents to receiving the caution.

The caution is not recorded on their criminal history and they are not liable for criminal prosecution once the caution has been served.

The Australia Day attack happened near Justin Park.

The 2023-24 Childrens Court Annual report shows police dished out 15,589 “cautions” for that period, accounting for 28 per cent of police actions taken against youth offenders.

A family member of one of the boys injured in the Australia Day bashing, not identified for privacy concerns, labelled the caution “pathetic”.

One of the 16-year-old victims had a fractured eye socket and nose when his head was allegedly kicked and stomped on repeatedly during the attack near Justin Park. Another of the four teens attacked allegedly had his jaw broken.

A Regents Park boy, 16, was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and scheduled to appear at the Southport Children’s Court on March 24.

However, a second Regents Park boy, 15, also charged with assault occasioning bodily harm whilst armed/in company, escaped with a police caution.

Police admit reoffending youths are being given “cautions” for robbery offences.

A senior police source on the southern Coast beat said there was no “hard or fast” rule and it was a “slippery slope” for officers using discretion with youths.

“The legislation and the Youth Justice Act could be refined to limit circumstances where we (police) have discretion to issue a caution,” the officer said.

Under the Youth Justice Act, unless a juvenile has committed a serious offence, a police officer must consider a caution or another diversion method before criminal prosecution.

A serious offence is defined as any with a life sentence – or one if committed by an adult that would make the adult liable for 14 years jail.

Ex-detective and Bond University Criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy said the Youth Justice Act contained a “loophole” which allow offenders to escape Adult Crime, Adult Time laws. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

“The difficulty for us as police is if you’re dealing with a stolen car, that offence on its own is a 10-year maximum,” the police source said. “Then if the stolen car is used, to say ram a business – that is an aggravating factor and you’re looking at a maximum of 12 years if it was committed by an adult. So then we as police are left to decide what we’ll do with the juveniles.”

Bond University Associate Professor of Criminology Dr Terry Goldsworthy said the LNP government’s new adult crime-adult time laws only affected those youths entering the court system.

The ex-Gold Coast detective with lengthy experience of the juvenile justice system said on top of the Childrens Court Annual Report showing police dished out 15,589 cautions for 2023-24, produced research exposing what he called a loophole: “It is also problematic for the offences listed in the adult crime adult time laws (that) the government did not remove the ability of a court to issue a conditional release order for a youth offender – the only exception is murder,” Dr Goldsworthy said. “For all the other offences listed the courts can still issue a conditional release order.

“This means the courts may decide not to send the youth offender immediately to detention and instead make a conditional release order.

“This means youth offenders will be released into the community straight away.”

In 2023-24 of 4935 convicted youth offenders, 386 were sentenced to detention and another 330 were given a conditional release order.

“In addition to this the adult crime adult time laws amended section 227 of the Youth Justice Act and removed the requirement for a youth offender to serve 70 per cent of their sentence — the courts can now use their discretion to see a lower threshold,” Dr Goldsworthy said.

Opposition police spokesman Glenn Butcher criticised the state government and Premier David Crisafulli for the speed at which the new laws were passed through parliament.

“The fact the LNP had to put more legislation before the parliament last week is an admission they rushed through and bungled their signature adult crime – adult time laws,” he said.