Queensland judge to receive apology after department refused to detail solitary confinement of boy, 13

The boy’s case follows several others where the Queensland children’s court has raised concerns about inappropriate conditions in overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres. Photograph: Mike van Schoonderwalt/Alamy

The public servant in charge of Queensland’s youth detention system has apologised for a government department’s refusal to provide the children’s court with information related to the prolonged solitary confinement of a boy, 13, with developmental disorders.

The judgment, reported by Guardian Australia on Monday, raised serious concerns about the treatment of the boy. Judge Tracy Fantin said his incarceration at the Cleveland youth detention centre had been “cruel”, “inappropriate” and a direct breach of the state’s youth justice principles.