‘Adult crime, adult time’ laws failure after teen, 13, charged with attempted murder

A 13-year-old boy being charged with attempted murder after an alleged stabbing has exposed a major shortfall in Queensland’s rushed ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws.

A 13-year-old boy has been arrested after a 63-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed in a Coles at Yamanto shopping centre. Picture: 7NEWS

A 13-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed a mother of two in the back while she was at work at Coles has not been charged under David Crisafulli’s new “adult crime, adult time” laws, exposing a major shortfall in the rushed legislation.

The Queensland Premier, who was elected in October on a promise to get tougher on young criminals with the laws, has defended his government’s decision to exclude attempted murder from its Making Queensland Safer laws, insisting there were “many more” changes to come.

The laws, at the centre of the Liberal National Party’s election platform, introduced a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for murder and increased maximum penalties for 12 other offences.

The legislation, which came into effect on December 13, made no changes to penalties for ­children charged with attempted murder.

Loopholes in the laws, which increased maximum sentences for grievous bodily harm, serious assault and wounding, were uncovered on Tuesday when the 13-year-old was charged.

In what police believe was a random attack, the boy allegedly stabbed 63-year-old Claudia Campomayor Watt at Ipswich’s Yamanto Central Shopping Centre about 5.20pm on Monday.

The woman was taken to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital with the knife still embedded in her back, and remained in intensive care in a critical condition on Tuesday evening.

Detective Inspector Michael Manago said early investigations suggested the pair did not interact before the alleged attack. “This is a horrible, abhorrent crime that occurred to an innocent, 63-year-old woman who was going about her daily employment at that shopping centre,” he said.

“We’re conducting a number of inquiries in regards to how the youth came to be in possession of that knife, which is obviously going to form a significant part of the investigation.”

The boy allegedly tried to flee but was stopped by members of the public and security guards nearby until authorities arrived.

He was charged with attempted murder on Tuesday morning and no application was made for his bail at Ipswich Children’s Court. The matter will be heard again on February 25.

Ipswich police have ramped up patrols at shopping centres after the attack, which occurred almost a year after grandmother Vyleen White was allegedly murdered by a youth offender at a nearby shopping centre.

A 13-year-old is arrested by police.

At a police station on the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday, Mr Crisafulli would not be drawn on why his Making Queensland Safer laws did not change penalties for youths convicted of attempted murder. “Let’s see through the (Yamanto) investigation … what happens with the charges in the days ahead,” he said.

“We implemented the changes we took to the election, and I said that that would be the first step, there will be more changes to the Youth Justice Act, many more.

“I’ve already indicated that we are putting together an expert panel to do future changes.”

Rebecca Fogerty, a criminal defence lawyer and past president of the Queensland Law Society, said the government had not given any clear rationale about why some offences, such as attempted murder and sexual assault, had been excluded from the legislation.

She said there was “no logical basis” why unlawful use of a motor vehicle – “which doesn’t even involve violence as an element and which ordinarily would not involve imprisonment” – was included and not attempted murder.

“This distressing case is a classic example of why sloganeering doesn’t work when it comes to criminal justice,” she said. “The laws do not act as a deterrent, the prospect of higher penalties does not do anything to reduce crime.”

Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm – one of four ministers charged with reducing victim of crime numbers in Queensland – would not say why penalties for attempted murder were not changed under the “adult crime, adult time” crackdown.

Ms Camm said she believed there were “potentially other charges forthcoming” against the teenager, but “it’s a police matter, it’s still under investigation”.

“Under the current legislation, I believe we have a myriad charges there that are consistent with expectation of Queenslanders,” she said. “As part of that legislation, we have covered off on a number of things that encapsulate adult time, adult crime, but I am not going to comment on today’s matter specifically in regards to that.”

Mr Crisafulli said there was a sense of “deja vu” for the Ipswich community, given the Coles worker was allegedly attacked about a 20 minutes’ drive from where White was killed in February last year.

“It is just so traumatic, what has unfolded is something that no Queenslander wants to see,” Mr Crisafulli said. “I reflect that this incident has occurred so close and within a year of what we saw happen to Vyleen White and there’s a sense of deja vu; it is exactly the kind of incident Queenslanders have had enough of.

“My resolve … is as strong as ever, and I want Queenslanders to know how much we understand that incidents like this just rock the fabric of who we are, and a tight-knit community like that has to relive the trauma of a year ago, and so does the White family, and so does the family involved in this incident.”

White’s daughter Cindy Micallef said police and security guards should have a greater presence at shopping centres during school holiday periods.

“These kids just don’t care who they affect,” she said on the Today Show. “Unbeknownst parents have gone back to work, not realising the mayhem and the devastation these kids cause.”