Janet Fife-Yeomans: Criminals shielded by flawed juvenile justice system

The terrifying case of the man who can only be known as DL because he was convicted of the stabbing murder of a 15-year-old girl when he was 16 is the latest example of the justice system putting the rights of the perpetrators before those of the victims.

• State’s excuses for not enabling Court Information Act
• Push to name young offenders when they become adults
• Juvenile jail staff fear DL will kill again if released

The terrifying case of the man who can only be known as DL is the latest example of the justice system putting the rights of the perpetrators before those of the victims.

When he appealed his original jail sentence for murder, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb conceded that a minimum of 17 years with an additional term of five years was too long.

Now that DL has been ­resentenced by the Court of Criminal Appeal, he is eligible to apply to be released on parole back into the community.

DL murdered Tania Burgess on the Central Coast in 2005 by stabbing her 48 times and can’t be identified even if he’s paroled.

DL leaving King Street Supreme Court in Sydney in handcuffs after being found guilty in July 2005.

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And because he was a juvenile when convicted of the brutal 2005 murder, he cannot be identified despite now being an adult.

This example of how the law lets down victims of crime comes as The Daily Telegraph pursues its campaign against the suppression orders and culture of secrecy that pervades the justice system.

Director of the DPP Lloyd Babb SC conceded that a minimum of 17 years with an additional term of five years was too long. Picture: John Grainger

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman has asked Law Reform Commission to consider naming serious juvenile offenders when they turn 18.

Last year there were at least 185 specific orders made by judges to prevent reporting of evidence and identities of criminals and alleged offenders, almost double the number imposed in 2011.

Attorney-General Mark Speakman has asked the NSW Law Reform Commission to review whether juvenile offenders convicted of serious crimes should be named when they turn 18 after the Telegraph revealed a 65-year-old man awaiting trial for the abduction and murder of Cheryl Grimmer cannot be named because he allegedly confessed to it when he was a juvenile.

Other juveniles convicted of rape and murder remain locked up for life but still cannot be named.

Originally published as Janet Fife-Yeomans: Criminals shielded by flawed juvenile justice system