THE Far North's first parent to be ordered by the courts to pay for his son's crime sprees says he will take the matter to the Federal Court.
The man, who cannot be named by law because his son is aged under 16, was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in costs when he appeared in Cairns Children’s Court on Tuesday.
He told The Cairns Post he would challenge the decision in the Federal Court.
“Mate, I don’t want to comment because it’s information from the court,” the father, who holds a high-level board position, said.
Cairns police prosecutors successfully applied in August to make the man financially liable for offences committed by his son, who had been dealt with by Child Protection and Investigation Unit detectives for several crimes ranging from burglaries to vehicle thefts.
The compensation ordered is understood to be more than that requested by police.
Under the Youth Justice Act, the courts have the power to order parents to pay compensation for property loss or physical injury arising from the crimes of children if police prove that lack of supervision was a contributing factor in the offences.
Cairns police Insp Peter Mansfield applauded the decision and said they were working to target other recidivist offenders who fitted the legislation criteria.
“That’s our intention. We’ve been going through a process of identifying our highest recidivist offenders with a view to taking that sort of action,” he said. “Only time will tell (if it will have an effect).
“The message that this brings home is that parents have a responsibility for supervising their children and ensuring they don’t get involved in criminal activity.”
In Charters Towers in 2005, the parents of two boys were ordered to pay $2000 in compensation to a homeless man in a landmark case. The sons poured methylated spirits over the victim while he slept then set him alight, causing serious injuries.
The Cairns Youth Crime Action Group earlier this year lobbied for the powers to be enforced more often following a spike in juvenile crime.
Latest police figures show that children were responsible for 4483 crimes in the Far North in 2011-12, most of them property offences such as break-and-enters, stealing, vehicle thefts and property damage.
Sins of the children
Sins of the children
will be visited onto the parents...
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”