NT teenager accused of assaulting baby flees after getting bail to attend ‘sorry business’

A NT teenager accused of a violent assault of a two-month-old baby was granted bail to attend an ‘on country’ funeral on a $7000 taxpayer-funded charter flight - only to flee custody.

The charter aircraft (VH-OAD) that travelled to Lajamanu and returned to Darwin on Wednesday. Photo: Dallas Presser/ Jet Photos

A Northern Territory teenager accused of a violent assault of a two-month-old baby was granted bail to attend an “on country” funeral on an estimated $7000 taxpayer-funded charter flight, only to flee custody as he went “to collect personal items”.

Specialist police on Wednesday were flown to the remote community of Lajamanu, 800km south of Darwin, in search of the teenager.

The teen allegedly broke into a home in Alice Springs in December with another teen and a woman was allegedly struck with a detachable metal freezer handle so hard it rebounded, hitting a two-month-old baby and causing a brain bleed and fractured skull.

The child was airlifted to Adelaide for emergency treatment.

After a night on the run, the youth was arrested by Territory police near where the funeral and “sorry business” was being held.

The escape follows a controversial Supreme Court hearing before NT Justice Meredith Huntingford, who granted bail despite the teenager having been charged with more than 250 offences before the alleged assault on the baby, and having been bailed 25 times previously despite still being a child.

Justice Meredith Day Huntingford of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. Picture: Supplied

The teenager’s flight to Lajamanu was chartered by the Territory’s Department of Children and Families through charter company Hardy Aviation, based in Darwin, at an estimated cost of $7000 return.

News of the escape was first revealed by Alice Springs baker Darren Clark, who is behind anti-crime social media page Action for Alice.

A NT police spokesman said the teen was “subject to strict bail conditions” at the time of his escape.

“The youth had travelled to the community in the care of NT Department of Children and Families personnel to attend a funeral whilst subject to strict bail conditions,” he said.

“About 2.45pm, following the funeral, the youth was transported by DCF staff to a residence in the community to collect personal items before returning to Darwin. Whilst at the residence the male youth and another community member fled into thick scrubland at the rear of the property. Police were notified a short time later and have deployed a number of resources, including the Fugitive Taskforce, to locate the male youth.”

The Australian revealed in December the serious criminal history of the two teenagers involved in the home invasion.

“He’s virtually never been punished for any of his offences, at all,” one legal source said.

“I think he was subject to six separate bail orders (at the time of his arrest for the alleged assault on the baby).”