Behind the closed doors of Cairns Childrens Court

A teenager who sexually assaulted a woman as she slept on a couch, later setting her car on fire because people would “look at him funny”, has been spared detention.

The full effect of revisions to youth crime laws are yet to flush through to sentencing hearings before the Cairns Childrens Court, as magistrates and judges weigh up the difficult task of handing down judgments for lengthy strings of offending that pre-date changes to the law.

Over the past few months Cairns Childrens Court has seen numerous serious recidivist offenders including an 11-year-old caught behind the wheel of a stolen car and 12-year-old girls accused of being involved in an armed robbery who face over 100 charges between them.

However, law changes such as the removal of detention as a last resort are yet to be fully tested on the worst young offenders at sentence.

Since the opening up of Childrens Court to the media in September 2024, the Cairns Post has spent countless hours sitting through sentencing and bail applications to gain an understanding of how the system is working - and where it falls short.

In one case demonstrating the difficulty of Childrens Court sentencing, a teenager who sexually assaulted a woman as she slept on a couch, later setting her car on fire because people would “look at him funny”, was spared detention.

Judge Dean Morzone KC said the 17-year-old boy presented as a “complex young man” with “lots of work to be done with him” as he mulled over his sentencing options.

The boy pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault, one count of burglary, and one count of arson.

Ultimately Judge Morzone ruled that although time in detention could have been an appropriate sentence, he told the boy “that’s not going to help you”, sentencing him to a probation order of 18 months.

In this case the young man had an extensive criminal history spanning some 41 charges a “large number of property offences”, however since intervention the boy had been able to stop his pattern of behaviour until what his defence counsel called the “out of character” sexual offence.

The court heard after a party attended by both the boy the and complainant, the boy entered the complainant’s home as she slept touching her private parts over her shorts waking her.

“She woke up and screamed seeing the boy, and he ran off,” Crown prosecutor Rachelle Logan said.

Ms Logan told the court 24 days after the assault and before a complaint was made, the teenager fetched a can of petrol from his home, went to the complainant’s home and set her car alight.

“The vehicle was destroyed,” Ms Logan said.

Cairns Courthouse.

In an interview with police he denied the sexual assault and burglary, the court heard.

“He tried to justify the arson because he said she had been writing things on Facebook, making people look at him funny.”

The teen’s defence counsel told the court he grew up without a father after he passed away when he was just three.

He told the court since his first spate of offending he had been showing himself as someone who could change.

“He has been working with his grandfather, selling fish, working on a farm, and he has goals of buying himself a boat.”

Judge Morzone, convinced the boy was a low risk of reoffending, told the boy it “took guts” to change himself and to try to be a better man and that he must work with the probation officers to get himself on track.

There are other examples of when children get support from family members they are able to make significant steps towards rehabilitation outside of the detention system.

Judge Dean Morzone KC. Picture: Brendan Radke

Judge Morzone was again called upon to apply his discretion when a 16-year-old charged with a violent attempted carjacking in May this year came before him having blown seven previous chances on probation across 54 charges in the space of two years.

The court heard the girl’s history included a number of unlawful use of motor vehicles, 19 counts of stealing and five burglaries.

Crown prosecutor Hannah McNeal told the court the girl approached a woman and her two sons, 6 and 10, in a parked car and demanded she take her to Woree.

“When the woman refused and tried to call her husband she punched her in the face and tried to take the keys,” Ms McNeale said.

“When, bravely, the 10-year-old tried to help his mum the defendant kicked him in the stomach.”

The family were able to flee without the girl taking their car.

Defence counsel Tim Grau told the court the girl had now relocated to Logan with her grandmother, was complying with her probation and was charge-free since the offence.

He argued that she should be given another chance at probation due to her change in circumstances and how she had gotten her rehabilitation well under way.

Judge Morzone told the girl he entered the courtroom ready to sentence her to a significant period of detention.

“It presented a very bleak picture, but what is remarkable is what you have done in recent times,” he said.

“I can recognise the direction you are going and you are far more capable than how it first seemed to me.

A Haval Jolion stolen from Mount Sheridan crashed into a tree on McEwen St Mooroobool critically injuring a juvenile passenger in the vehicle. Picture: Peter Carruthers

Judge Morzone recognised the period the teenager had spent in solitary confinement while in detention due to staffing issues and sentenced her to another nine months probation.

“Children who make an effort should be rewarded, that is why detention is the last resort and only imposed after all sentences are rendered unavailable,” he said.

Since September 2024 the Cairns Post and victims of crime have had increased access to the once-closed proceedings of the Childrens Court.

Over the past three months the court has seen dozens of kids come through its doors including an 11-year-old caught behind the wheel of a stolen car, or serious repeat offenders with over 40 charges including break and enters and unlawful use of motor vehicles.

But alongside them were first time offenders charged with not wearing a helmet while on their bike and shoplifters.

After dismissing formal charges against a 17-year-old stopped by police for not wearing a helmet and a 13-year-old who stole less than $20 worth of food from Woolworths, Magistrate Mandy Bowen remarked: “I don’t even know why this has been brought before me.”

Many children brought before the Childrens Court are under the care of the state.

On one day 19 of the children listed to have their matters mentioned were in the care of Child Safety.

In one case of a young boy with learning difficulties, there were no housing providers willing to work with him in Cairns, leading to an opposition to bail from the police prosecutor, which was ultimately rejected with the Magistrate telling Child Safety and the police prosecutor the circumstances were not grounds to deny bail.

Another major concern for sentencing magistrates is the amount of time young children are facing in pre-sentence custody in watch houses and understaffed detention centres.

In one case a 14-year-old with a limited history spent 45 days in custody with 11 of those spent in the Cairns watch house, with their defence counsel arguing “one day in the watch-house where they are locked in all day every day, is equivalent to seven in detention or jail.”

Speaking to the Courier Mail in December, Children’s Court of Queensland president Deborah Richards said the youth justice system continued to struggle accommodating the number of children in detention.

“It is inevitable in a state the size of Queensland that there will be times when it is necessary for a young person to spend a night in a watch house,” she said.

Accommodation cells in the boys unit at the Cairns watch-house, Picture: Queensland Ombudsman

“However, the length of time spent in watch houses for some young people in this state is significant.

“In the last year 447 young people spent more than a week in a watch house and another 259 spent more than two weeks in a watch house.

“Watch houses are not meant for, or equipped to, hold prisoners for extended periods.

“They are not appropriate places for children to be housed.”

Earlier this month a 14-year-old boy spent 10 days in watch houses after he was falsely identified in an armed robbery and had his existing bail revoked before being released back on bail after the charges were dropped.

Ms Richards, in her annual report, noted a small, core group of young offenders caused deep concern to the community and negatively impacted on feelings of safety and wellbeing.

The reintroduction of breach of bail as an offence drove an increase in the number of finalised charges against child defendants from 43,033 in 2022-23 to 49,612 last financial year.

There were 6697 breach of bail convictions compared with 938 the year before.

Originally published as Behind the closed doors of Cairns Childrens Court