Cairns police charge boys over fatal crash
UPDATED: Police reported they have charged one boy. 14, with manslaughter and dangerous driving charges in the aftermath of a fatal car crash which killed a 14-year-old boy in Cairns.
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UPDATE 7.45PM Police announced a 14-year-old boy has been charged following a fatal crash at Manoora on Monday.
Police said the vehicle was sighted several times in the area before the driver lost control of the white hatchback at around 1.10am while travelling south on Pease Street.
The vehicle travelled across the north bound lanes before crashing into a tree, near Saltwater Creek.
Another boy travelling in the car died at the scene.
Police will also allege the boy entered a residence on Gatton Street at Manunda, stole the keys to the car and drove off earlier the same night.
The 14-year-old driver has been charged with manslaughter.
He has also been charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance and one count each of burglary, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and driving without a licence.
He has been denied bail and will appear in Cairns Children's Court this week.
Another boy, aged 14, was also charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle and burglary relating to the same incident.
He appeared in Cairns Children's Court on Tuesday.
Investigations are ongoing with oversight from the Ethical Standard Command.
Police are continuing their appeal to anyone who may have vision of the alleged stolen car or the crash to come forward.
UPDATE, 1PM: Immediate reaction was merciless in the attack of alleged teen car thieves and parents of alleged youth offenders, despite the loss of life in an horrific fatal car crash in Cairns.
But LNP police spokesman Dale Last has pointed to a very “concerning” culture within the youth justice and child safety sectors.
“We were hearing now of staff and carers being told not to report breaches of file conditions, not to report illegal behaviour and activities,” he said.
“That is where it’s breaking down.”
On Friday speaking about a new Cairns petition calling for a public inquiry into departments managing youth offenders, Mr Last predicted Monday’s fatality.
“They are so brazen that if we don’t put a stop to it, someone’s going to be killed or seriously injured,” he said.
“It has become the cool thing.
“It’s deeply concerning to me that those filming themselves stealing cars (and) engaging in dangerous driving and that type of thing, but they’re also now throwing rocks and bricks at police cars. They’re ramming police vehicles.”
Mr Last said the introduction of breach of bail as an offence was needed and relocation sentencing needed to be looked at.
“It’s not just here (in Cairns) it’s up the road and Mareeba as well and surrounding areas and people are fed up, they’ve had enough and they want action,” he said.
“Cairns is on track to have the worst year on record already and we’re only in February. In terms of crime more needs to be done.
Manoora resident and witness to the aftermath of the crash Pam Walsh said she didn’t hear sirens before the alleged joy ride ended in tragedy.
“I don’t know if the cops were chasing them but whether they were or they weren’t, the fact of the matter is the road was wet,” she said.
“For someone to lose their life after stealing a car and going for a joy ride, I think it’s just too out of hand.
“It’s out of hand but I don’t know what anyone can do to change it.
“What can the police do? What can anyone do?
“This is a tragedy, but it doesn’t deter them.”
The death of the teenage boy alleged to have been a passenger of a stolen car in Cairns has triggered memories of a young Townsville woman killed in tragic circumstances last year.
Motorcyclist and aspiring policewoman Jennifer Board, 22, died in a fatal crash in February 2021 involving two stolen cars, with the shocking incident rocking the North Queensland community to its core.
And a little over a year on “nothing has changed” to deter young criminals, according to Katter Australia Party deputy leader Nick Dametto, who sympathised with the “fed-up” residents of Cairns tired of out-of-control youth crime.
“It’s sorrow, anger and disbelief that this could happen in our day and age where we are trying to protect life at all costs,” Mr Dametto said.
“Unfortunately the legislation is written in such a way that it doesn’t protect those that are most vulnerable and those who are out there using the road on an everyday basis.
“These kids and offenders are also losing in this as well where the legislation and the youth justice system isn’t curbing their behaviour.
“So it is failing them as well.”
MONDAY: A family friend, who had helped the teenage victim of Monday’s horrific car crash during an earlier difficult period, has paid tribute to the boy.
Tiarnie Mueller said she had cared for the 14-year-old at one stage and the boy had a troubled past.
“Yes he was a good boy in my home the few months I cared for him, but he came from a troubled life having lost both parents and living on the streets when I took him in. I tried to help him and provide a safe place for him,” she said.
Witnesses at the scene of the horrific crash on Monday morning have recalled what they saw and heard in the moments after a Toyota Yaris carrying six children slammed into a tree in Cairns.
The 14-year-old boy died in the allegedly stolen car on Pease St after crashing at high speed into the tree, near the Saltwater Creek bridge.
He was one of six juvenile occupants ranging in ages from 12 to 15.
Five surviving alleged joy-riders remain in Cairns Hospital, some with serious injuries.
Pam Walsh lives metres from the tree hit by the Toyota Yaris and was woken by “big bang” at about 1am.
“It was really pouring with rain, absolutely pouring,” she said.
“I was dozing off to sleep because I don’t sleep very well.
“And I jumped up and I pulled my blind and I looked out and saw headlights.”
Ms Walsh said her former husband walked a short distance to the crash site to help with traffic control and reported 12 police cars, two ambulances and two fire trucks completely blocking the road.
“He said this (kid) was driving and some fella was trapped in the car,” she said.
“And they got a kid out … and he said it’s not good down there.”
Police said the 14-year-old male driver was taken to Cairns Hospital in a serious condition. Four other teenage passengers were also transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, girls aged 12, 15 and 15 and a 14-year-old boy.
Police and ambulance officers performed CPR on a 14-year-old boy, a back seat passenger, however he was declared dead at the scene.
Acting chief superintendent Chris Hodgman said the alleged stolen car had been seen driving erratically before the crash but insists there was no pursuit of the vehicle.
“There was a number of police cars working (Sunday) night that patrol the streets of Cairns and a number of sightings were made of this vehicle,” he said.
“The car was (travelling) way too fast for conditions.
“Our strategies are to try and safely stop vehicles. And that’s always been our strategy to increase community safety. We certainly don’t want to put people in harm’s way.
“It’s a sad day for the boy’s family, friends and the community and we send our sympathies to those people.”
Cairns MP Michael Healy acknowledged the system needed changes.
“This horrific event is a polarising tragedy on so many levels, for a family’s loss, for our first responders who attended the scene and to those impacted by crime,” he said.
“As the community has made it very clear to me, more needs to be done with far better outcomes.”
Police are appealing for anyone who saw the vehicle, a white 2010 Toyota Yaris, or has relevant dashcam vision to make contact.
“We are seeking information from the driver of a blue sedan that was seen in the vicinity, the stolen vehicle overtook the blue car at speed,” Act chief sup Hodgman said.
“So we’re hoping that person may come forward and provide some information to us.
RELATED: Cairns MP Michael Healy’s crime strategy targets absent parents
“And I just wanted to put out a heartfelt thanks to the other emergency services that turned up. That’s from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service and the Queensland Ambulance Service, (which was a) confronting scene for well over 15 police officers and those other agencies that have to deal with them. So thanks to those agencies for turning out in the middle of the night.”
Investigators from the Forensic Crash Unit are investigating with oversight from the Ethical Standard Command.
No charges have been laid.
The blue sedan was travelling south bound over Saltwater Creek Bridge at the time. Police are urging the driver to make contact as soon as possible.
Investigators from the Forensic Crash Unit are investigating with oversight from the Ethical Standard Command.
It will be further alleged the Yaris had been stolen from a Manunda house sometime after 9pm on Sunday, February 13.
Queensland Ambulance Service reported attending the incident with critical care paramedics at to assess six patients at the scene.
Multiple QAS crews, including critical care paramedics, responded to reports of a single-vehicle crash into a tree on Pease Street at 1.18am.
Six patients were assessed at the scene and five patients were transported to Cairns Hospital, including a teen boy with pelvic injuries in a serious but stable condition, a second teen boy with chest injuries in a stable condition, a teen girl with abdominal, back and head injuries in a stable condition, another teen girl with neck injuries in a serious condition and a third teen girl with an arm injury in a stable condition.
The incident comes after the city recorded on average, 3.9 cars stolen everyday, placing Cairns on track for an annual car theft tally of more than 1400 stolen vehicles, easily surpassing a previous record of 782 cars set in 2021.
The tragedy is reminiscent of a fatal crash that occurred in Townsville in June 2020 when a stolen car clipped a roundabout, flipped and hit a traffic light pole.
In that case two teens, aged 13 and 17, died.
The 14-year-old driver later pleaded guilty to unlawfully using a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death while excessively speeding, a count of burglary and stealing and a count of possessing a dangerous drug. The young driver was sentenced to five years in juvenile detention.
Townsville was the scene of another tragedy last year when motorcyclist Jennifer Board, 22, was killed.
Police said her death was the result of a vigilante driver who was chasing a stolen car crashing into it before it veered across the centre line and hit Ms Board’s motorbike.
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