Bail house to court for kids

Two children have appeared in Kununurra Children’s Court recently for offences they committed while under the care of child protection and staying in the local youth bail hostel, sparking fears there is no end in sight to the town’s youth crime crisis. One 15-year-old boy, who was identified as being in the care of the Department for Child Protection, faced 14 charges on January 6 including one count of aggravated home burglary, four counts of assault public officer and two counts of stealing a motor vehicle. He plead guilty to all charges, including being one of two who broke into Kym Sheppard’s Lemonwood Way home (pictured). Ms Sheppard, who had lived in the town for 50 years before recently leaving, said frequent break ins to her home drove her to leave. The boy was released from custody on a five month intensive supervision order and sentenced to 40 hours of community work. The lawyer of another 12-year-old boy, who was held in custody charged with one count each of stealing a motor vehicle and trespassing, told the court he had appeared in court several times recently for crimes he allegedly committed while in the care of the department of communities and living in a “group home”. His matter was adjourned to a later date in order to find a more suitable placement for him than the Kununurra bail house. Magistrate Colin Roberts said if a solution couldn’t be found he would have no choice but to send the boy to Banksia Hill Detention Centre. Kununurra has experienced its worst rates of many types of crime ever, with dwelling burglaries up from 160 reported incidences in 2017-18 to 317 reported incidences in 2018-19 and stealing motor vehicle offences reaching 111 from 86 in the same period. Kununurra officer in charge Snr Sgt Leeca Smith said throughout late December and early January, Kununurra had experienced an increase in burglary and stolen motor vehicle thefts. “Kununurra Police have been working tirelessly with the assistance of Wyndham Police, Kununurra Detectives, East Kimberley Traffic and the Kimberley Joint response Team to solve this crime spree,” she said. “As a result, 22 people have been charged with 73 offences, 6 search warrants conducted and a quantity of property located and seized believed to be stolen during burglaries.” Kununurra Police declined to comment on crime commented by youth in care who had absconded from the bail house. Department of Communities regional and remote communities service delivery acting assistant director general Lindsay Hale said children and young people in care would not normally be bailed to the bail house, as they have care arrangements provided by the Department. “However, recently in a small number of cases magistrates have exercised this option. Care placements provide caring, supportive and therapeutic environments for children and young people in care,” she said. “Communities provides extensive support to young people and a number of agencies and community organisations work together to provide alternative activities and options for young people in Kununurra to engage them and divert them from the justice system - successfully in the majority of cases.” Save the Children Australia was awarded a three year contract from January 1, 2017 to deliver a range of youth justice services including youth bail services in the East Kimberley region, on behalf of the Department of Justice. Hope Community Services is engaged by STCA to deliver youth bail services, which includes the operation and management of a youth bail facility in Kununurra. In September last year the Department extended this contact by two years until December 31, 2021. Hope Community Services did not respond to questions from The Kimberley Echo.