12yo girl accused of murdering a 37-year woman in Footscray granted bail from custody
A girl charged with the murder of a 37-year-old woman in Footscray has been granted bail from custody.
Police & Courts
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A girl, 12, charged with the murder of a 37-year-old woman in Footscray has been granted bail from custody.
The child, who was arrested on Thursday, was granted bail in a late night Supreme Court hearing on Friday where she was granted release from juvenile detention.
It comes after she was arrested and charged by the Homicide Squad on Thursday following the body of a woman being found at a Barkly St property, about 2am on November 16.
The girl appeared in a Children’s Court earlier on Friday, where she asked a magistrate, “Where am I going?”
The girl sat in the dock, flanked by two female security guards, as the court heard juvenile detention was “not appropriate” for her.
The girl suffers from an array of conditions including anxiety.
Her defence lawyer said: “In terms of custody management (issues) in the interim, there is a raft of them, bearing in mind her age, her intellectual and other disabilities which are in part touched on in the remand summary.”
The court heard authorities would be asked to note that the girl had “special needs that are exceptional in this case”, and she’d need to see a custody nurse.
She was also at risk of self harm.
When the girl entered the court, the magistrate told her, “there’s a lot of things we’re going to be talking about today.
“I just ask you to sit there, listen, if you want a break, tell us.”
She sat looking forward for the duration of the hearing, and at one point stretched her arms behind her head.
When the hearing was over, the magistrate said: “What’s going to happen is the police will take you back downstairs”.
The girl then said: “Where am I going? Juvenile?”
The girl is one of the youngest Victorians to be charged with murder.
She will return to the Children’s Court next Friday for a forensic procedure application.
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