Geraldton teenager with 55 charges given a chance for a ‘fresh start’

A Geraldton boy facing 55 charges has escaped spending time in detention, instead being given a conditional release order. The 13-year-old appeared in Geraldton Children’s court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to attempted burglary with intent, adding to his long list of charges. The boy’s lawyer told the court about the plan to have him live with his father in Perth, to start fresh and be away from the co-accused. Police prosecutor Sgt Paul Burkinshaw told the court the boy had committed a string of offences dating back to 2021, repeatedly with similar acquaintances. Sgt Burkinshaw detailed how the boy and co-accused broke into Champion Bay High School and smashed the staff windows using a fire extinguisher, which was caught on CCTV. The boy had multiple video recordings of him riding on a stolen moped. When questioned by police he had provided false information. There was CCTV footage of the boy and co-accused stealing motorcycles which they then rode to Separation Point, poured petrol over the bikes and set them on fire. The boy’s lawyer argued that it was the co-accused who instigated the idea and was the one who poured the petrol over the bikes. “He is just 13 . . . My ultimate submission is that we don’t reach a point of detention because of his young age,” she said. Magistrate Angus Hockton said the criminal damage by fire could not be overlooked. “That criminal damage by fire is a really serious offence,” he said. “To take someone’s scooter and abandon it in a bush, they might get it back, but to set fire is really serious, they might not have insurance for it. “People get hurt and it causes significant loss that goes above and beyond, if you steal someone’s vehicle and set fire to where they can’t get it back it would be heart breaking.” Mr Hockton told the boy moving to Perth might be the fresh start he needed. “This is a fresh start, but you can’t keep having more fresh starts,” he said. “It is daunting to move and start a new school . . . you can meet new people and achieve good things.” The boy was given a conditional release order of four months and a six-month intensive youth supervision order.