Fight for survival: What’s fuelling teen crims in Cairns

Two young men once at risk of heading down a shady path have revealed how drugs, neglect and social media pressure is producing a cohort of dangerous and unpredictable gangs generating terror on the streets of Cairns.

TWO young men at risk of heading down a shady path have revealed how drugs, neglect and social media pressure is producing a cohort of dangerous and unpredictable gangs generating terror on the streets of Cairns.

The incidence of outlaw teen gangs taunting Cairns police on social media and encouraging rivals to share videos of criminal activity has been well documented in Cairns.

Cairns delinquents use private Instagram groups to boast about illegal activity and share criminal tactics.

Spending his late teens in Cairns and attending Woree State High School, Caleb Vaele has seen first-hand how his peers became lured into a criminal lifestyle and what other factors are at play.

“You can tell just looking around it would be easy here in Cairns to get involved (with gangs), a lot of them have freedom,” he said.

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“I noticed there was too much baby sitting and not enough parenting, and the sad part was the baby sitting was always done by the oldest sibling.

“There is definitely a lack of parental responsibility.”

Acting Inspector Kyell Palmer said teen criminals generally were opportunist in their offending and didn’t operate in organised crews with a dress code or name.

However, commenting on a brutal attack of two women in the Cairns CBD by seven girls last week, he said behaviour changed when a group of teens got together.

“I suppose it’s a mob mentality in terms of what occurred,” he said.

“There’s absolutely no organisational sophistication. It’s all opportunistic.”

For another young man, who asked not to be named, said growing up in Cairns was a daily battle to survive in a hostile world within a system he believed was stacked against him.

“At a young age I was out to survive, I was living in world that you had to protect yourself or you would be trampled over,” he said.

“Every day I woke up for school I knew there would be a fight.

“It set a bad lifestyle where everyone is against you and hanging in the wrong group led me astray.”

Smoking weed, drinking and running amok at night, the former offender had regular run-ins with the law until he discovered a passion for boxing.

“People warned me I could go to jail if I didn’t pull my head in,” he said.

“If I didn’t change the way I was going I would be in juvi now, if I didn’t change I would have kept going down a dark path.”

Everything came to a head during a chance encounter with a boxing coach when the young man lost it at the Redlynch IGA and started kicking in the door of the shop.

“(The coach) pulls up out the front and he gave me his card,” he said.

Now, seeing the light at the end of a dark tunnel the 19-year-old goes to church and has enjoyed major success on the amateur boxing circuit.

“At the start it was hard to keep going but as soon as I got there the feeling of boxing was amazing and when I put spirit into it, the enjoyment came,” he said.

“I really wanted to ask for forgiveness. I went to church with my parents. I was seeking the Lord and he turned up.

“It’s a hard thing because you can’t force anyone to change, but you can always direct them and that’s what (the coach) helped me with.”

In the latest teen incident police allege a group of seven girls aged between 11 and 15 viciously attacked two women in the CBD last week.

On Sunday three teen girls aged 12, 13 and 14 seriously assaulted a man travelling on a bus in the CBD. The series of disturbing attacks follows the roll out of a new strategy to curb a statewide youth crime epidemic. Every serious repeat youth offender will now be case managed in the next phase of the Youth Justice Taskforce reform agenda.

Assistant Commissioner Brett Schafferius with Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon, head of the Queensland Government's Youth Crime Taskforce, on the Cairns Esplanade. Picture: Brendan Radke

Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said intervening and rehabilitating young offenders was crucial in breaking the cycle of crime and delivering long-term change.

“We need to do everything we can to reduce reoffending by ramping up interventions and support beyond detention,” she said.

“The next phase of the task force involves rigorous intensive multi-agency case management of each of the children in the serious repeat offender cohort.”

Caleb Vaele now 26-years-old has five children of his own and is an accomplished jujitsu fighter.

Caleb Vaele at his home in Cairns with daughters Kyra, Kahna, Karae and Keturah. Picture: Emily Barker

He admits he was no angel growing up but managed to steer clear of serious criminal influence, which he said was often driven by older offenders.

“The pressure was there (to do crime) but I wasn’t vibing and didn’t want to hang out with them,” he said.

“The thing I take notice of is the one person leading, it’s just a bunch of kids following an older boy.

“There’s always an older influence.”

The Cairns youth crime epidemic hit home for Mr Vaele in July when the father of five thwarted a would-be robber who stormed the Raintrees Tavern and tried to make off with a cash register.

“I grabbed him and tackled him and smashed him into the table and chairs … and security came over and held him down,” he said.

Senior executive director of youth detention operations and reform at the Department of Youth Justice, Michael Drane said while repeat offenders must be held accountable they must also be given the opportunity to turn their lives around.

“We know this is a difficult task which requires extensive intervention and is only effective after the very basic underlying causes of offending are addressed,” he said.

“Our cross-agency task-force will focus on co-ordinating strategies to address these issues, including education, employment, health, accommodation and family supervision.”

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Originally published as Fight for survival: What’s fuelling teen crims in Cairns