DPP v Swain (a pseudonym) (No 2) [2025] ACTSC 209
1 judgment
DPP v Swain (a pseudonym) (No 2) [2025] ACTSC 209
ChapterYouth detention as a source of institutionalisation – child/young offender, 17y – aggravated robbery; aggravated dangerous driving – profound childhood disadvantage; Bugmy applied: at [198]
Coram: Taylor J
- As observed by Ms Edwige, the impact of youth detention as a source of institutionalisation is at an “accelerated” rate compared to adults “as the biological, psychological and social development of detained children are still in progress”. Further, “children are less able to tolerate highly constrained environments without distorting their developmental trajectory” (see Institutionalisation, Dr Robyn Shields AM and Dr Andrew Ellis, 2024): at [219].
- The risk of institutionalisation has capacity to drastically impede rehabilitative potential. The offender has capacity to be guided toward positive change notwithstanding some negative patterns: see Azzopardi v R [2011] VSCA 372; 35 VR 43; R v Forster-Jones (No 2) [2019] ACTSC 286. The effect of incarceration in an adult prison at this stage of life would undoubtedly hinder capacity for rehabilitation. This includes the risk that the environment, as well as the anti-social attitudes it fuels, will become normalised: at [222].
Chapter: Impacts of Custody and Detention on Young People (opens in a new tab)Case Summaries (opens in a new tab)See full case: 2025 ACTSC 209 (opens in a new tab)