Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre escapee’s family member says system is stuffed
FAMILY members of the Malmsbury escapees have spoken exclusively to the Herald Sun saying the system is “stuffed” and youth prison is like “criminal school.”
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FAMILY members of the Malmsbury escapees have spoken exclusively to the Herald Sun saying the system is “stuffed” and youth prison is like “criminal school.”
The mother of a 16-year-old youth justice escapee who posted to Facebook that he had escaped said she spoke to her son at the police station yesterday morning.
“I yelled at him, but I was glad he was safe,” she said.
“I didn’t sleep all night. I know what he’s like so I had reason to be concerned.
“He just does things in the spur of the moment, it’s just how he is.
“I know he’s a naughty boy and everything but he needs help.”
Her Queensland born son has been in and out of the youth justice system since he was 13 years old, for committing ram raids and armed robberies.
“Instead of being rehabilitated, he just gets worse; he’s a naughty boy and everything but he needs more help than punishment.”
He was sentenced to two years and nine months before Wednesday’s prison escape.
His mother told the Herald Sun her son had “already been in trouble” at Parkville, so he was transferred to Malmsbury.
“It’s like he’s in criminal school at Malmsbury,” she said.
“They all train each other how to commit crimes better to get away with them.”
She said the inmates are put into lockdown all the time as there’s not enough staff.
“The kids are getting p***ed off, I hear them screaming at the staff when I’m on the phone to my son,” she said.
“It’s like the prison staff all run and hide as soon as they start to run amok in there.”
Her son was kicked out of high school and got into “more and more” trouble when he moved to another school in Melbourne’s southeast suburbs.
His mother said she understands why everyone is mad at her son and she was sorry for his actions.
“I find it really hard to be really mad at him,” she said.
“If it was someone else’s kid, I’d be angry but I love him dearly regardless, he’s my son.”
“I’ve never seen him do so much damage to himself since he’s been in youth prison.”
She said the system was “stuffed” and said police are “just doing their jobs.”
“At one stage my son was on 11 counts of bail, I kept saying why haven’t you locked him up? He’s used to getting to bail. The bail system absolutely stinks, it should be pulled down and readjusted,” she said.
The grandfather of another inmate who also escaped from Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre on Wednesday said prison wasn’t the answer for troubled teens.
He explained how his grandson has been troubled for “as long as he can remember”.
“He’s easily influenced and is loyal to his mates inside,” he said.
“But jail isn’t the answer … they need a space where they can be educated and rehabilitated.”
He said his grandson was moved to Malmsbury after rioting at Parkville Youth Justice Centre last year.
“He just keeps moving from one place to another but it’s not helping him at all,” he said.
“The government had a lot to answer for locking them up in a prison cell wasn’t it.”