Hard core of alleged youth offenders arrested more than 100 times per month, figures show

NT Police arrested a group of just 400 teenagers who are responsible for more than 80 per cent of the Territory’s youth crime problem a total of 1211 times during the past 12 months.

The Full Court of the NT Supreme Court will decide this week whether the Youth Justice Court has the power to stay the 12-year-old’s case. Picture: Jason Walls

A hard core of about 400 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 are responsible for more than 80 per cent of the Territory’s total youth offending, new figures have revealed.

Of the 500 alleged youth offenders arrested by NT Police in the past 12 months, just 22 will fall below the Territory’s new, lower age of criminal responsibility.

The highest number of alleged offenders fell into the 17-year-old age bracket, with 133 individual youths arrested a total of 364 times.

Slightly more than 100 youths aged 16 and the same number aged 15 were arrested during the same period, with a member of each cohort picked up about 300 times.

The 70 individual alleged offenders in the 14-year-old cohort were arrested a total of 235 times during the past 12 months, while there were 72 12 and 13-year-olds arrested a total of 261 times.

The 22 10 and 11-year-olds were the subject of 66 total arrests.

Attorney-General Chansey Paech has said the legislation lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12 would come into effect in the third quarter of this year.

“Before our legislation commences, programs will be in place such as parenting initiatives, youth outreach and an increased focus on early intervention to support children and families in need,” he said.

“Existing programs and services with a demonstrated record of success will be bolstered, including Back on Track, youth diversion, camps and restorative conferencing.”

It comes as prosecutors and defence lawyers prepare to face off in court this week in a tussle over whether all current cases against 10 and 11-year-old should be thrown out ahead of the changes.

The new legislation provides that the increased age will apply to offences committed both before and after its commencement and dictates that all children under that age still held in detention must be released and their criminal record expunged.

Acting executive officer of raise-the-age advocacy group Change the Record Maggie Munn “urgently” called on the Territory government to raise the age to 14.

“The NT’s Bill to raise the age to 12 must be enforced immediately — any delays perpetuate harm against children,” they said.

“NT kids are trapped in a state of limbo and every day spent in incarceration causes significant harm.”

Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC said while the legislation would come into force no later than October 7 next year, “there is no firm date as to when the Act will commence”.

“Section 467(2) will provide that, after the date that the Act comes into force, ‘no criminal process may be started in relation to the offence’ and section 467(3) will provide that ‘any criminal process in relation to the offence is discontinued’,” he said.

“The legislature has thereby intended that, rather than prosecutions being ‘grandfathered out’, for instance by providing that no further prosecutions for youths under the age of 12 can be commenced after a certain date, that prosecutions will continue until s 467(3) comes into effect.”

Children ‘trapped in limbo’ as lawyers face off over criminal age cut-off

The Territory’s new age of criminal responsibility could prevent fewer than two dozen children per year from entering the criminal justice system, new figures have revealed.

Meanwhile, children as young as 10 are still being jailed for criminal offences the new legislation could retroactively exonerate them for when it comes into force.

The figures obtained by this publication show the 22 children aged 10 or 11 arrested in the past 12 months represent less than a quarter of the 94 children aged under 14 charged.

Under the current legislation, those children are all subject to a rebuttable legal presumption that they are not criminally responsible for their actions, which would remain in place for 12 and 13-year-olds under the changes.

It comes as the full bench of the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments about whether all current charges against children under 12 should now be withdrawn.

Documents submitted to the court and seen by this publication reveal lawyers for a 12-year-old boy charged with indictable offences stemming from incidents that occurred when he was 11 applied to have them withdrawn “in the public interest”.

“The Director of Public Prosecutions has refused that request and seeks to have the charges committed to the Supreme Court to be dealt with,” the documents say.

The boy’s lawyers had asked the Youth Justice Court to stay the proceedings until the legislation comes into force no later than October next year but prosecutors also opposed that course, arguing the court had no power to do so.

The new legislation provides that the increased age will apply to offences committed both before and after its commencement and dictates that all children under that age still held in detention must be released and their criminal record expunged.

Acting executive officer of raise-the-age advocacy group Change the Record Maggie Munn said it meant Territory kids were “trapped in a state of limbo” and “any delays perpetuate harm against children”.

“Children belong in community, with family, in playgrounds and schools, where they can be supported to learn and grow, not locked in cages,” they said.

“Every day spent in incarceration causes significant harm.”

Munn said the government should raise the age to 14 “aligning with international norms and the evolving practices across other Australian states and territories”.

“Our bid to raise the age of criminal responsibility is strongly supported by compelling medical evidence confirming that children under the age of 14 lack the capacity to comprehend the consequences of their actions,” they said.

“Incarcerating children not only increases the chances of further encounters with the system but also inflicts significant harm and trauma on their developing brains.”

In response to questions from this publication, Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC said the youth who is the subject of the court action had been charged with “very serious offending”.

“(This includes) allegedly robbing a man of his car at knifepoint while in the company of another and violently assaulting and robbing six strangers on five separate occasions, one of which involved striking the victim to the head with an aluminium bat,” he said.

Mr Babb said in passing the new laws, parliament had intended that prosecutions would continue until they came into effect, rather than being “grandfathered out”.

“Further to that, it is important to understand that prosecutions and subsequent sentences serve a number of purposes, including (to) discourage other potential offenders from engaging in the same or similar type of offending,” he said.

“Those purposes will continue to be fulfilled until the new legislation commences.”

Attorney-General Chansey Paech said the legislation lowering the age of criminal responsibility would come into effect in the third quarter of this year and was based on the recommendations of the Youth Justice Royal Commission.

“Before our legislation commences, programs will be in place such as parenting initiatives, youth outreach and an increased focus on early intervention to support children and families in need,” he said.

“Existing programs and services with a demonstrated record of success will be bolstered, including Back on Track, youth diversion, camps and restorative conferencing.

“We have committed to a review of the legislation after two years to consider if further amendments are required.”

The Full Court is due to hear legal arguments in the stated case later this week.