WA: Inquiry launched into 11 year-old girl kept in lock-up
PERTH, Aug 26 AAP - Police have been ordered to explain why an 11-year-old girl waslocked up overnight in an adult cell after she was arrested for writing graffiti, WesternAustralian Police Minister Michelle Roberts said today.
Police in Geraldton, 425km north of Perth, arrested the girl twice during the weekend- first for damage and disorderly conduct, and then for breaching her bail.
After her second detention on Sunday night, the girl and her 15-year-old half-sisterwere locked in adult cells overnight.
When the girl appeared in court yesterday morning, magistrate Michael King demandedto know why she had been put in the lock-up, and ordered no further punishment.
Ms Roberts has now also called for an explanation from police. A spokesman said shewas concerned about how such a young girl could end up in prison overnight.
"We have asked for a full report of the circumstances surrounding this situation," he told AAP.
Regional police inspector John Ballantyne said his officers were bound by the conditionsof bail laws, and had had no choice but to detain the girl until she could be broughtbefore the children's court magistrate.
"Under our bail laws, they must be taken before the appropriate judicial officer tohave that bail reviewed. Magistrates do not sit at night, so the first available occasionwas at 10am the following day," Inspector Ballantyne said.
"Police basically had their hands tied as to what to do with these kids overnight."
The Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) said the police could, and should, have used theirdiscretion. ALS chief executive officer Dennis Eggington said the girl should not havebeen charged in the first place.
"We've always advocated that, if these young kids get an alternative and are givensomething like a juvenile justice team, some of the issues may be sorted out at an earlyage, instead of starting that cycle of offending and re-offending," he told ABC Radio.
AAP tc/ak/jlw/
KEYWORD: YOUNGSTER
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