Re Noah Jackson (a pseudonym)

[2023] QChCM 7

MAGISTRATES COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Re Noah Jackson (a pseudonym) [2023] QChCM 7

PARTIES:

NOAH JACKSON

(Applicant)

v

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

(Respondent)

FILENOs:

Mount Isa CCM 186/23, 204/23, 218/23, 220/23, 232/23 236/23, 247/23, 258/23, 278/23, 283/23 & 360/23

PROCEEDING:

Bail Application

COURT:

Children’s Court, Mount Isa

DELIVEREDON:

4 August 2023

DELIVEREDAT:

Mount Isa

HEARINGDATE:

14, 18, 25 & 27 July 2023

MAGISTRATE:

E. Mac Giolla Rí

ORDER:

Bail refused

APPEARANCES:

Snr Const Grabbe

Mr V Knox, ATSILS

Ms J. Green, Youth Justice

Ms K. Allan / Ms C. Moloney, Child Safety Court Liaison

Background

1. On 27 July 2023 I refused bail to Noah Jackson. I explained the consequences of that decision to Noah and reserved my reasons.

1. Noah is an indigenous boy with an intellectual disability. Noah is in the care of the State of Queensland. Noah is twelve years old.

1. On 6 June 2023 I had granted Noah bail with conditions. I published my reasons for granting bail, Re Noah Jackson (a pseudonym).¹ All the facts contained in that judgement are relevant to this decision.

¹ [2023] QChCM 5

1. When released on 6 June 2023 Noah had been remand for 13 days in relation to 36 offences: 17 property offences, 2 offences of unlawful use of a car and 17 charges of breaching his bail conditions.

1. When I granted Noah bail I had concerns about the adequacy of the care Child Safety was providing for Noah.

1. Prior to being remanded in custody, Noah had been placed in a residential care home. In my

   earlier judgment I noted that the Team Leader in Noah’s care home had said that Noah needed a better model of care than was available in that placement. The Team Leader’s view was that Noah needed a 1:1 ratio of carer to child. Only a 1:2 ratio was available in the placement. Noah’s needs are high because of his intellectual disability.

1. In the earlier bail proceedings I raised this matter directly with the parties. In response to my concerns Child Safety provided its view in writing that

   “…it is in [Noah’s] best interest that upon release from custody he return to his [current] placement…” ²

2. In the earlier judgement I wrote:

“It is difficult to see how this could possibly be correct, given that Noah committed the offences that have landed him in Cleveland YDC while in that placement. In effect, Child Safety are proposing ‘more of the same’ care, which obviously risks more of the same behaviour.”³

Charges

1. As things transpired, Noah is one of several children charged with involvement in a series of major crimes on the night of 12 to 13 July 2023, including:

·The theft of a car from a local caravan park.

·The dangerous operation of that car on public roads.

·The stolen car was driven through fences: of a house, a school and a council property.

·The stolen car rammed several cars that were being driven by members of public.

·The stolen car…