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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Smee

‘Like an animal’: Queensland boy, 13, spent months confined to cell for 20-24 hours a day

Close up of silhouette of handcuffs and prison bars of jail cell
Thirteen-year-old boy who has foetal alcohol syndrome and ADHD was confined to his jail cell 24 hours a day for 10 days. Photograph: Vesnaandjic/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The detention of a 13-year-old boy with multiple developmental disorders in solitary confinement in a Queensland detention centre was “cruel”, “inappropriate” and a direct breach of the state’s youth justice principles, a children’s court judge has ruled.

Amid a heated statewide debate about youth crime, justice Tracy Fantin said the state of Queensland now “must bear responsibility” for the boy’s actions, after his release with a reprimand.

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