‘The impact on the victims would have been enormous’: Magistrate Gail Hubble’s message to 16-year-old boy in the children’s court
A Melbourne magistrate was “staggered” police were not pushing for a tougher penalty for a teen involved in a wild crime spree and says the boy was old enough to know better.
Victoria
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A Melbourne magistrate has doubled down on her decision to lock up a violent teen home invader over a two-month crime spree, telling him “your offending hurt a lot of people”.
Gail Hubble sentenced the 16-year-old boy in the children’s court on Thursday to two months detention, going against the pleas of police, the boy’s defence lawyer and youth justice workers to free him on a probation order.
Ms Hubble highlighted the need for community protection, claiming a probation order did not “adequately reflect” the seriousness of the brute’s crimes, which included a terrifying home invasion on a Kew property and 13 armed hold-ups on service stations and milk bars.
While police and the boy’s lawyer argued he should get a more lenient punishment as it was his first time being sentenced in a court, the tough-talking magistrate said he was old enough to know better and needed to take responsibility for his “high-harm” offending.
She had earlier labelled the youth’s crimes as “appalling” and expressed how she was “staggered” the police were not pushing for a tougher penalty.
“Almost all the offences are serious examples of the crimes in question,” Ms Hubble said during her sentencing remarks on Thursday.
“There was some degree of premeditation involved, particularly in regards to the robberies.
“It’s likely that some older offenders adduced (the boy) to participate in the robberies.
“But nevertheless he is old enough to take some responsibility for those crimes.
“In the case of the home invasion, I am also entitled to consider the need of the protection of the community.
“Your offending hurt a lot of people. The impact on the victims would have been enormous.”
The teen was one of four balaclava-clad youths who broke into a Sackville St property in Kew and threatened the sleeping couple to hand over the keys to the two Porsches in their driveway about 4am on February 24.
He was on bail at the time — released on January 21 — over a series of armed hold-ups on service stations and milk bars where knives, sledgehammers and axes were used to steal tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes and cash.
His crime spree came amid growing concerns and public outcry about the state’s youth crime crisis, as highlighted by the Herald Sun’s Suburbs Under Siege campaign.
In March, the Allan government was forced to respond by passing tough new bail laws to stop repeat offenders from getting freed.
Ms Hubble refused the teen bail on March 13. He returned to court on April 3 to plead guilty to dozens of charges including home invasion, dangerous driving and 13 counts of aggravated burglary.
On that day Ms Hubble had been urged to free him on probation, but received community praise when she kept him locked up while he be assessed by Youth Justice.
On returning to court on Thursday, she said a Youth Justice report provided to her had also recommended probation — but that still could not persuade her.
She sentenced him to two months detention and ordered he be on a youth supervision order (YSO) for 12 months on his release.
A YSO is more intensive than probation and can include supervised community work and regular reporting to a youth justice unit, with a focus on rehabilitation.
She urged the boy to work alongside youth justice to “move your life ahead in a positive way”.
“If you commit any crimes in that 12 months or you don’t do the things that youth justice ask you to do, you will be brought back to court to be re-sentenced,” she said.
Originally published as ‘The impact on the victims would have been enormous’: Magistrate Gail Hubble’s message to 16-year-old boy in the children’s court
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