At 14, Sam has the mental capacity of a five-year-old. So what’s she doing in a Queensland police cell?

Queensland’s treatment of vulnerable children is ‘grooming’ them to be adult criminals, advocates say. Illustration: James Gulliver Hancock/Jacky Winter Group

When Sam* feels overwhelmed, she makes a hissing noise like her cat, Socks. She spends hours watching the cat slink across the old pine floorboards, watching its back stiffen when its defensive instincts kick in.

Sam smiles when she’s with Socks but she can’t tell you whether she’s feeling happy. She can’t explain when she’s angry or upset. She can’t find the words to tell someone they need to back off – so she has started to mimic the cat’s hiss. Everyone seems to understand what that means.