The treatment by police of a 13-year-old autistic boy is shocking – but it fits an appalling pattern

‘Behind every young person treated unfairly by the police lies a promising life in ruins, a family in distress and a nation failing its own people.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Australian federal police website proudly states that one of its central roles is to “play a lead role in keeping Australians safe from terrorism”.

So it’s extremely disturbing to discover that the joint counter terrorism team (JCTT), which comprises Australian federal police, Victoria police and Asio members, has in fact been found by a magistrate to have actually radicalised an individual in the course of a counter terrorism investigation.