Police investigating after boy bashed at Parkville youth justice centre
FOUR Victorian youth inmates are headed for adult prisons after transfer applications were approved in a bid to lift safety at youth justice centres. Meanwhile, a teen boy is in hospital after he was bashed at Parkville youth justice centre.
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FOUR youth inmates are headed for adult prisons after transfer applications were approved in a bid to lift safety at youth justice centres.
It comes as a teen boy suffered serious injuries when his head was “stomped” at Parkville youth justice centre on Monday.
GOVERNMENT SPENDS $1.29M ON FAILED FIGHT TO KEEP YOUTH CRIMINALS IN ADULT PRISON
TEEN OFFENDERS AT BARWON PRISON COST TAXPAYERS $2100 AN INMATE PER DAY
The boy was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.
A source told the Herald Sun that he was “in a bad way” after the beating.
A Department of Justice and Regulation spokeswoman said the “incident” was “quickly resolved” by staff but it had been referred to police.
“Violent or dangerous behaviour in youth justice centres is not tolerated,” she said.
Victoria Police spokeswoman Belinda Batty said the investigation was ongoing
Sources confirmed to the Herald Sun that the Youth Parole Board on Monday approved the transfers of four youth inmates to adult prisons.
The Secretary of the Department of Justice and Regulation can apply to move a young offenders aged 16 or over to an adult prison.
The board must consider their age, maturity, behaviour and be “satisfied that the young person’s behaviour is a threat to the security of the centre”.
“These applications are not taken lightly by the department and are made to ensure the safety of staff and all young people in youth justice,” a department spokesperson said.
Opposition children and families spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the government continued to sit on its hands on youth crime, “whether that be youth gangs on our streets or inside youth detention facilities where violent assaults continue.”
The Andrews Government moved more than a dozen young offenders from Parkville, following a riot in November 2016, to Barwon Prison.
It did so by reclassifying the prison’s Grevillea unit a youth facility.
But in an embarrassing legal blow, the Supreme Court ruled the move unlawful last May.
The government spent $1.29 million unsuccessfully defending the move against multiple court challenges.
GOVERNMENT SPENDS $1.29M ON FAILED FIGHT TO KEEP YOUTH CRIMINALS IN ADULT PRISON
TEEN OFFENDERS AT BARWON PRISON COST TAXPAYERS $2100 AN INMATE PER DAY