The parents of a 17-year-old boy who allegedly crashed an off-road electric motorbike into a pedestrian in Perth’s north on Saturday afternoon, killing the 59-year-old nurse, have been struggling to control him for years, a court has heard.
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, appeared in Perth Children’s Court on Tuesday morning via video link from Banksia Hill Detention Centre.
Police examine an electric off-road motorbike involved in a fatal crash in Edgewater on Saturday.Credit: 9News Perth
His lawyer, Simon Watters, made a bid to Magistrate Alana Padmanabham to have the boy released on bail, but prosecutors told the court there were concerns he would reoffend and his father had told police he “had absolutely no control over his behaviour”.
The teen, who lives with his father in the northern Perth suburb of Currambine, was arrested on Sunday and charged with manslaughter after the 59-year-old woman was allegedly struck by him while walking near Edgewater Drive on Saturday afternoon.
Police alleged the off-road electric motorbike was unregistered and “travelling erratically” when the crash happened.
The woman, a nurse who was originally from New Zealand, was taken to Joondalup Health Campus where she later died.
The teenager was charged with manslaughter, no authority to drive and using an unlicensed vehicle on a road.
The boy, whom the court heard has been diagnosed with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, lives between his father, predominantly, and his mother and teenage brother in Toodyay.
The court was told police had been called multiple times to his home after his behaviour turned violent, but the boy had never been convicted of a crime.
However, prosecutors said the teenager was given a police warning in December 2023 after an incident involving another child, during which he was also riding another e-motorbike.
“[The boy] doesn’t listen to his father,” the state prosecutor told the court.
“The father indicates he has absolutely no control over his behaviour and has tried over and over again to manage his behaviour.
“This has resulted in [the boy’s] mother being hospitalised with the stress. There are a number of stressors in the house as a result of [the boy’s] behaviour.”
The court was told the teenager, who was under the care of professionals funded by the NDIS, stopped taking medication prescribed to him for his diagnoses and instead opted to take prescribed cannabis.
Prosecutors claimed a backpack found at the site of the incident in Edgewater contained un-labelled cannabis and early investigations into the teenagers phone showed messaging apps that could indicate he was selling the drug.
Watters told the court his client had been enrolled at Kinross College and was planning to enrol in a TAFE course next year.
He told the court the boy had a “39-page long sub plan” with a behaviour-related organisation funded by NDIS “and that has been in place for a considerable period of time”.
While Watters hoped his client could be released on bail on Tuesday, Padmanabham said she needed a detailed report about where the teen would be living, who would be supervising him, and his parents’ opinions on how they would manage his behaviour.
He will be back before the court on August 5.
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