Teen involved in horror Kew home invasion sentenced to detention by Magistrate Gail Hubble

A tough-talking Children’s Court magistrate has doubled-down on her stance against violent teen home invaders, locking up a 17-year-old boy who led a horror Kew attack.

Tough-talking Children’s Court Magistrate Gail Hubble has doubled-down on her stance against violent teens who commit home invasions by sentencing a 17-year-old boy who led a horror attack in Kew in February to four months behind bars.

Tough-talking Children’s Court Magistrate Gail Hubble has doubled-down on her stance against violent teens who commit home invasions by sentencing a 17-year-old boy who led a horror attack in Kew in February to four months behind bars.

Ms Hubble’s decision to lock the teenager up came in spite of defence lawyers lodging an appeal against her previous sentence for another of the boys involved in the attack.

In that case, she gave the teenager detention, rather than a community-based order, going against recommendations of defence and police submissions on sentence.

Police arrest several youth ofenders after a home invasion in Kew. Picture: 7NEWS

In locking the 17-year-old up for four months on Thursday, Ms Hubble defied the recommendations of a report from Youth Justice bureaucrats, who said the boy could be released immediately on a Youth Appearance Order — the strictest form of supervision available.

“I do not accept the Youth Justice recommendation,” Ms Hubble said.

“The offending is too serious to warrant a community-based order.

“A home invasion is a gravely serious offence, and one that causes significant trauma to the people that find themselves confronted in their own homes by intruders.”

A teen was sentenced to four months in detention over the home invasion. Picture: 7NEWS

He will be released later this month, taking into account time served since his arrest in late February, the night he and his three co-accused targeted a home in Sackville St, Kew, where they broke in using an unlocked doggie door and rifled through the house trying to find keys to the two Porsches parked in the driveway.

When confronted by the homeowner, one of the four thugs said: “I have never killed anyone, but I can start.”

Police have never proven which of the four teens uttered those chilling words, but believe the 17-year-old who faced court on Thursday to be responsible.

The teens were trying to find keys to two Porches. Picture: 7NEWS

The court heard the teen and his victims had met face-to-face at a conference, where the teen provided them with a “genuine” letter of apology, and the victims told him he could show his remorse by living a law-abiding life.

“Certainly, my hope is that they receive some closure, or some relief from the trauma that they have from the offending,” Ms Hubble said.

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The victims, who have asked not to be named, previously gave the Herald Sun a detailed account of the attack.

“I heard someone muttering so I sat up in the bed, and there was a man wearing a balaclava,” the woman said.

“I was just screaming, which woke my husband and then another person came into the room and I really started screaming. And then my husband just said ‘get out, get out, leave, don’t do this’.”

The teenager also pleaded guilty to a series of less-serious offences stemming from a petrol station drive off in a stolen BMW, and erratic driving while being tailed by police.

The teen, who hopes to use his freedom to get a job in the construction industry and spend more time playing basketball, will be subject to strict supervision for eight months after his release.