Judge Sentences 16-Year-Old to Youth Supervision, Not Prison, Under New Victoria Law
A Melbourne judge gave a 16-year-old who robbed a taxi at knife-point an 18-month youth supervision order instead of the three-year jail term required by the new adult-time legislation.
In the first application of Victoria’s new adult-time provisions, a 16-year-old girl who threatened a taxi driver with a knife and then fled in the stolen vehicle was spared the statutory minimum three-year imprisonment. The incident occurred two hours after the laws took effect, prompting County Court Judge Scott Johns to consider “exceptional circumstances” such as the teen’s lack of prior offences, remorse, unstable home environment, and a psychologist’s testimony of PTSD and unmanaged ADHD.
He ordered an 18-month youth supervision plan that includes drug counselling, mental-health treatment, schooling or work, community service and a curfew. The judge emphasized that rehabilitation in the community best protects the public. The taxi driver, still suffering trauma, testified about his ongoing fear when passengers enter his cab.
The girl’s 16-year-old accomplice received a 12-month good-behaviour bond from the Children’s Court. Critics of the legislation include legal groups and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, while victims’ advocates support the tougher sentencing regime.
Why it matters
The case tests how Victoria’s new harsh youth-crime laws will be applied in practice.
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