QLD Police Union Call For Youth Offenders Who Kill To Be Named In Court

The Queensland Police Union are pushing to have the identities of serious child offenders who kill people named in court.

The calls for major changes to juvenile privacy follows the death of three people in Maryborough earlier this week.

Three women were killed and another woman critically injured after a 13-year-old boy allegedly crashed a stolen car into the back of a vehicle on Sunday evening.

The 13-year-old faced court on Tuesday with a number of media outlets applying to sit in on court proceedings.

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Magistrate John Milburn denied all requests claiming this could be prejudicial if the child’s personal information was released to the court.

Queensland Police Union President Ian Levers told News Corp on Thursday that teenagers who kill people should be treated the same as adults who commit the same offence.

“That means we should be looking at open courts, the public have a right to know this,” he said.

“And I believe it is in the public interest that this information is publicly available.

“We are not talking about a minor crime...”

Mr Levers said that the serious nature of the crime should cancel out the child’s right to anonymity.

“You kill someone, you lose any right that you should have."

- Magistrate John Milburn

“When people are killed, the media should have a right to go into the courtroom and be able to report the facts. The only time I would say there should be a suppression, if it is detrimental to the victim. Because the victim I think is something that we all forget about from time to time.”

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