‘Blood on their hands’: Parents of youth crime crisis victims say more deaths unless urgent action

In the wake of yet more deaths and the failure of an appeal to keep their son’s killer in jail longer, the parents of a high-profile victim of Queensland’s youth crime crisis say more innocent people will die unless the state government acts now.

Russell and Ann Field say the state government has “blood on its hands” and warn more innocent people will die if it doesn’t urgently intervene in the state’s youth crime crisis.

The couple, who lost their son Matthew Field and his pregnant fiancee Kate Leadbetter when they were struck and killed by a drunk and high juvenile in a stolen car on Australia Day 2021, spoke out after the Court of Appeal decided not to increase the child’s 10-year sentence.

The decision came on the same day as widespread community anger over the deaths of three innocent women in an accident allegedly caused by a 13-year-old – who was known to police – driving a stolen vehicle in Maryborough on Sunday night.

Their deaths bring the number of victims who have lost their lives in youth crime-related incidents to at least 18 in two years.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers has called for children to be sentenced as adults if they are found guilty of horrific crimes such as Maryborough’s triple fatal crash, while the Fields made pleaded for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government to do more.

“It is tragic this has happened again,” Mr Field said.

“The Premier and this state have more blood on their hands because nothing was done earlier.”

Russell and Ann Field speak outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane following the decision. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled that the 10-year sentence given to the teenage driver was appropriate, dismissing an appeal brought by the Attorney-General seeking it be increased and ruling against a defence bid for a lighter sentence.

“The careful and comprehensive sentencing remarks reveal that the sentencing judge was fully cognisant of the seriousness of the respondent’s offending and sentenced the respondent for the manslaughter offences by reference to the maximum of detention for life,” the appeal judges wrote.

“The Attorney has failed to show that this is an exceptional case which justifies a departure on appeal from the submissions made by the prosecutor before the sentencing judge … or that the sentence imposed on the respondent was ‘unreasonable and plainly unjust’.”

The teen will be released back into the community after he has served six years in prison on Australia Day 2027 – the six-year anniversary of the day he killed Kate, Matt and their unborn son Miles.

Outside court, Mrs Field said while the decision was disappointing, they understood the judges were bound by the law.

“It’s what the laws are at the moment and the laws need to change,” she said.

“If the Premier thinks these laws are adequate, I think people need to stand up and do something about it.”

Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter.

Mr Field said he supported the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences to ensure juvenile offenders knew the penalty for their crime before they had committed it.

“I stand here today and I guarantee you another accident like this will happen again, again and again,” he said.

“What’s got to happen for them to change something and get these kids understanding what they can and can’t do?

“How many more people have to die, innocent people?”

Veteran lawyer and former Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said the government’s proposed new laws – which centre largely around bail and car theft – would make no difference in the Field and Leadbetter case.

“In this case, nothing the courts will do and can do will assuage the grief of the family and loved ones of this tragic family,” he said.

“But the court has got to do justice according to law, and in this particular case they have balanced a large number of features to come to this decision.”

Criminal Lawyer Bill Potts in his Southport chambers. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Mr Potts, who has represented thousands of juveniles in court, said the proposed new laws would not work and there needed to be a “realistic and long-term” conversation around juvenile crime.

“This debate, this response that we see over and over again does nothing to actually address the real problem and those real problems are complex, and just as the problems are complex the solutions are complex,” he said.

“It is about time we had a proper look at it rather than the paper over the cracks and the shuffling of the deckchairs on the Titanic that we see the current government doing.”

Mr Leavers called for juveniles committing adult crimes to be sentenced as adults – which Mr Field said he agreed with “by all means”.

“(Anyone who commits) an adult crime deserves to be dealt with like an adult and the penalty should be accordingly so,” Mr Leavers said.

“A minimum of life imprisonment. That is a community expectation and these bleeding hearts need to wake up and come to terms with reality because that is something that has hit the entire community.”

A child pays tribute at the scene of the crash in Alexandra Hills where Matty Field and Kate Leadbetter were killed by an out of control stolen car while walking their dog. Picture: Nigel Hallett

He also said the age of criminal responsibility should not be increased to 14 and the “bleeding hearts” and “do-gooders” who wanted those changes were not living in the real world.

“I cannot envisage delivering a death message to a family saying your loved one has been killed but the offender is (underage) and there is nothing we can do as police.”

Queensland’s opposition attacked the Palaszczuk government for being soft on youth crime in the wake of the horror incident, with justice spokesman Tim Nicholls saying while he would not comment on the specifics of the case, the alleged involvement of a teen offender highlighted the government’s failings in tackling the youth crime crisis.

“And without commenting on the current case ... we can say that we know Queenslanders want to be safe on the roads, they want to be safe in their homes, and they want to be safe when they’re out in their communities,” he said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the community was grieving following the incident in Maryborough.

“I think all Queenslanders will share our absolute sadness about the tragedy that unfolded in Maryborough,” she said.

“There will be a court case in relation to this matter so I’m limited as to what I can say.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the government had asked for more police to be immediately deployed to the Wide Bay region.

“We’ve just passed tougher laws,” she said. “It’s going to take time for those laws to take effect, for the judiciary to understand the complexity of those laws. These are very, very complex issues. But today is a day that I honestly still believe that our hearts go out to the families and also to the Maryborough community.”

Originally published as ‘Blood on their hands’: Parents of youth crime crisis victims say more deaths unless urgent action