A juvenile offender's demonstrated rehabilitation on conditional bail (11 months offence-free, participation in programs) must be given significant weight in sentencing, even for very serious offences including home invasion. The principle that detention is a last resort under s 150(2)(e) of the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) requires the sentencing court to give real effect to mitigating factors including horrific background, lack of prior criminal history, and the influence of older co-offenders. A conditional release order combined with probation may be appropriate even for serious violent offending where the juvenile has demonstrated rehabilitative progress.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 4 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.