Don Dale teen sentenced over 2018 arson attack and guard assaults

ONE of two teenagers who set fire to a rival’s cell at Don Dale Detention Centre while yelling “die motherf***er, die”, has been sentenced.

A teen sentenced over a July 2018 arson attack is also accused of involvement in a November 2018 riot. Picture: Keri Megelus

ONE of two teenagers who set fire to a rival’s cell at Don Dale Detention Centre last year could serve as long as four years behind bars.

The 17-year-old, whose name is suppressed, pleaded guilty in March to arson, property damage, making a threat to kill and two counts of assaulting workers.

Justice Peter Barr said the public expected that young people who were sent to Don Dale would be safe.

“When young offenders are sentenced to detention or are held in detention, the courts and the community have a strong expectation that they will be safe and not threatened with being burnt alive in terrifying circumstances,” he said.

The teen, along with three other detainees, refused to go to his cell after dinner in July last year.

The teens’ refusal prompted guards to lock themselves in an office and call a “code yellow”, as the four kicked their way out of the block.

The teen sprayed two cowering guards with a fire extinguisher, prompting both to be short of breath and one to vomit.

The teens then broke into a storage room where detainees’ personal possessions were kept, and started throwing around the rival teen’s belongings.

Guards upgraded the “code yellow” to a “code green”.

During the three hour crime spree, the teens got hold of riot shields, a radio, and paint thinner, and used the radio to demand negotiators bring them McDonalds, cigarettes, a lighter and the keys to K-block, where the target of the arson attack was being held.

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After one of the teens threw paint thinner on the outside window of their target’s cell, the teen being sentenced on Wednesday set it alight.

As the fire burnt, with the victim locked inside, the teens could be heard yelling “die motherf***er, die” and “you’re going to die in there”.

Justice Barr said it was unclear how long the victim was left in his cell afterwards, but the guard who later unlocked the cell reported it smelt strongly of solvents and burnt plastic.

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The judge said it was “deeply concerning” the teens had asked for the keys to K-block.

The court heard the teen who was sentenced on Wednesday had been abandoned at birth and had been in and out of detention since he was 10.

A psychiatric report found the teen lacked empathy with his victims.

Justice Barr said he could not conclude whether the teen was at more risk of reoffending behind bars or in the community.

He sentenced the teen to four years detention, with a non-parole period of 18 months.