Teen had parole cancelled and was returned to detention after trying to kill himself, court hears

The Victorian youth parole board cancelled the parole of a youth offender and returned him to detention after he tried to kill himself, a court has heard.

The boy, who cannot be named, was released on parole on 22 August last year – five days before his 18th birthday – but was arrested and returned to detention a week later.

His mother told the Kyneton magistrates court this week that on 28 August he sent her a text message saying goodbye, and that when she returned home she found he had self-harmed.

She said she took him to hospital and informed youth justice of the incident, as he had been due to meet them that day.

The following day, on 29 August, police arrived at his house and arrested him for a breach of parole, his mother said.

Following the self-harm incident she had two conversations with youth justice, but she was not told his parole would be cancelled, she said. She said no reason was given for the breach, with the arresting officers telling her they had no choice but to take him into custody.

The following month, the youth and other detainees at Malmsbury youth justice centre assaulted several guards. Since the attack he has been held in adult prison and is now being held in Ravenhall, where he is being housed as part of the general population, he told the court.

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He pleaded guilty in court this week to assaulting three guards during the September incident.

His lawyer, Maria Cananzi, said the circumstances of how he came to be detained should be considered when he is sentenced.

“[He] was in quite a distressed and quite fragile state when released on parole and for parole to be revoked and for [him] to be brought back into custody in these circumstances and for the offending to take place some weeks after – I say that by no means to reduce his conduct – [but] the moral culpability is in my submission reduced by those factors,” Cananzi said.

She added that his “dysfunctional upbringing and his youthfulness” were also factors that should be considered in sentencing.

The offender’s mother told the court he was the third of seven children, and that she was employed as a disability and aged care support worker.

Police did not contest evidence regarding the cancellation of the offender’s parole, but said they opposed a submission that he should serve no further time in custody for the assaults.

Magistrate Sharon McRae indicated that it was likely he would be sentenced to more time in custody, rather than being able to serve any sentence concurrently.

His parole period for the previous offending expires in November.

McRae said she believed he should receive an additional sentence to act as a deterrent against similar offending, which she said was “nasty, it’s not necessary, it’s unprovoked, the workers are just going about doing their job, a very difficult job they have to do, and they’ve been attacked … over nothing”.

She also referenced ongoing staffing challenges within the youth justice system.

“It’s very hard to get workers in those facilities when they get assaulted by the inmates constantly,” McRae said.

Cananzi noted that her client had already been given a deterrent against similar offending, as he had been transferred from the more “therapeutic” youth system to adult prison.

McRae ordered an assessment into whether it was suitable for the offender to be returned to youth detention, but noted that the justice department could ignore any decisions she made over his custody.

Contacted for comment, Youth Justice said it could not provide detail regarding individual cases.

The offender will return to court for sentencing next month.

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org