A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD who held a piece of glass to a carer’s neck while he was driving and demanded the car keys has been released on bail, despite appearing in a court 10 times during the past couple of weeks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The boy, who cannot be named because he is under 18, has terrorised carers during the past two months, resulting in a string of charges and court appearances.
On Tuesday the child was again released on bail.
The court was told that it is hoped a kinship placement can be organised when a family member relocates from Queensland.
At present the boy is receiving 24-hour-a-day one-on-one care.
He has just turned 13 years old, has an intellectual disability, ADHD and is also supported by Aboriginal services.
He is currently on six lots of bail.
Police said that on Wednesday last week the boy left his home at night on a bike, was reported missing and was returned by police early the next morning.
On Saturday morning police were called after the boy set fire to a couch in his home.
At 8.20am the boy asked a carer if fire was bad. The carer said yes and then noticed flames coming from the couch which had to be extinguished.
The carer had to force open the boy’s hand to take a lighter from him.
Later on Saturday a carer was driving the boy around when he turned to look at traffic.
He felt something on the back of his neck and noticed the boy had a shard of glass, similar to a broken stubbie bottle top, in his hand.
The boy demanded the vehicle’s keys, but the carer refused to hand them over.
Police opposed bail saying the boy’s offending behaviour was escalating.
The magistrate granted bail until April in the hope that the kinship placement could be organised as soon as possible.
