How a glimpse inside the walls of Unit 18 offers some signs of optimism in WA youth detention

Ordinarily, not too much escapes through the fences and walls that separate detainees in the notorious Unit 18 from the wider world.

One of the few glimpses the general public can get inside comes through court hearings for those young people.

For months judges have delivered grim messages of life inside, but WA Children's Court president Hylton Quail offered some signs of optimism last week as he sentenced a 17-year-old boy with a lengthy criminal record.

WA law stops us from telling you his real name, so we're calling him Tom.

He's admitted to a string of break-ins and burglaries in a regional town earlier this year, including one the prosecutor described as a particularly "terrifying experience" for one couple, who had their home targeted twice.

Their victim impact statement, parts of which President Quail read to Tom, detailed their daily trauma, constant fear and paranoia as a result.

The prosecutor told the court that offending was even more serious because it happened around a month-and-a-half after Tom had been released from custody, subject to strict conditions.

'Very low' cognitive ability

Tom had wanted to be sentenced earlier this year, but it was delayed because President Quail wanted him to be assessed for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). 

The judge said he was glad he waited for that assessment because it showed Tom did indeed have FASD, which affected his executive function, memory and academic performance.

It meant he had a "very low" cognitive ability, his lawyer said, and had immense difficulty foreseeing the consequences of his actions – factors which President Quail took into account in sentencing him.

An additional charge was also added to Tom's record, after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a youth custodial officer while at Banksia Hill earlier this year.

The officer was part of a group who had come to his cell to move him to the centre's intensive supervision unit, which resulted in him becoming "abusive and aggressive".

The boy's lawyer said he acted out because last time he was in that unit, he'd been subjected to lengthy lockdowns and did not want to return, but he later fully accepted full responsibility for his conduct.

President Quail said the offence was serious, and reminded Tom that youth custodial officers in detention were not responsible for conditions detainees were subject to, but acknowledged his behaviour was "unsurprising" and a "product of conditions he'd been subjected to", given it occurred after a period of lockdowns.

'No rehabilitative effect'

President Quail said while the FASD diagnosis needed to be taken into account, the "most relevant" fact in sentencing was Tom's experiences in detention.

His current stint began some six months ago in mid-May.

That included a "very difficult period" between June 4 and July 18, when he was subjected to daily lockdowns of 20 hours or more, with most around 23 hours according to President Quail.

Those periods were of "no rehabilitative effect" and would be "very damaging to any child", President Quail said, especially for someone with FASD, and in light of two recent Supreme Court decisions.

In late August, Tom was transferred to Unit 18, although neither he nor his lawyer knew why.

They suspected it might have been because Tom started threatening staff when he was told they were too busy to bring him a blanket when he was cold one night.

Last month Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia said a "multidisciplinary team" assessed each young person, their behaviour and capacity to return to Unit 18.

Complaints had previously been raised because that team does not outline their reasons for moving detainees.

President Quail criticised that "lack of transparency" around which detainees are sent to Unit 18 – a facility he continued to describe as a form of "extrajudicial punishment".

During that period there were at least 31 days where Tom was only out of his cell for about an hour, and at least two where he spent all 24 hours of the day inside those four walls.

A glimmer of hope

President Quail said there had been "some relief [and] much lower lockdowns" in Unit 18 following the death of Cleveland Dodd.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said there had been an "immediate increase in service provision" in the wake of Cleveland's passing, including additional supports to cover weekends.

Last week Tom was transferred back to Banksia Hill, again without him or his lawyer being told why.

President Quail said it was pleasing to see Tom experiencing "substantially better" conditions there, including being able to go to school, after receiving no education in the six months prior, and having access to counselling, recreation and time with other detainees.

That meant he could not impose a discount on any sentence in light of the conditions he might be exposed to, but that a "very substantial discount" would still be applied given his treatment over his last six months in detention.

Weighing up all of those factors, President Quail said his primary focus was on Tom's rehabilitation, which he described as the "best guarantee of the community's safety".

He was given a conditional release order for 12 months – effectively a form of suspended sentence, which if Tom breached, would mean he would be sentenced not only for any new offences, but also serve time for his current string of offending.

"You've got to be careful what you wish for," President Quail told Tom, warning that if he messed up this opportunity, he would be sent straight back into detention.

Let's hope these signs of optimism lead to positive change across WA's youth detention system so more teenagers like Tom can be rehabilitated and re-join society, rather than being locked inside a room for 23 hours a day.