Territory Families failed to report alleged killer driver’s suspended sentence breaches, court told
BUREAUCRATS who ‘were supposed to be keeping a close eye on a teenage sex offender sat on their hands while he repeatedly breached the conditions of his suspended sentence, and only took action to get him locked back up after he allegedly killed someone in a high speed car wreck.
Crime and Court
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BUREAUCRATS who were supposed to be keeping an eye on a teenage sex offender sat on their hands while he repeatedly breached the conditions of his suspended sentence, and only took action to get him locked back up after he allegedly killed someone in a high speed car wreck.
The teen, then 17, was late last year sentenced to two years and six months jail, partially suspended, for a serious sex offence and was released under strict supervision.
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The Supreme Court heard on Wednesday that Territory Families did nothing to report the teen’s four known breaches of his suspended sentence until after the fatal crash.
Crown Prosecutor Stephen Geary there were “so many concerning issues about this” including the “shocking supervision of the offender by Territory Families”.
“If he had been breached, say, after the third one this girl might still be alive,” he said.
“It’s outrageous.”
“Who are these people to determine who this man is breached (by a court), these bureaucrats?”
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Mr Geary also said Territory Families had misled the court by not including information about the crash in a report detailing the other breaches.
The teen’s lawyer, Beth Wild, said her clients four breaches were “individually … quite minor” but when put together could be seen as “contumelious”.
She said her client, now 18, had been a model detainee at Don Dale.
“It seems very quickly on release he’s not been able to follow through (with his good behaviour),” she said.
She said it should have been clear months before the crash the department’s supervision regime “wasn’t working”.
Justice Anthony Graham said if the allegations about the teen being involved in a crash after four unreported breaches were true, it was “an outrage”.
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“If they’re true, if this is right that the supervision is such that he commits four breaches … and two days later (after the last breach) he’s involved in an accident where somebody dies and he’s behind the wheel, if that’s so, it is an outrage,” he said.
“They should have done something.”
Justice Graham restored four months of the teen’s suspended sentence.
He is next due in court in April charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing serious harm.
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