A 14-year-old girl has spent several days in a Christchurch police cell during the Covid-19 lockdown, highlighting gaps in Oranga Tamariki’s facilities for young female offenders in the South Island.
The girl, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was facing 14 police charges.
Judge Jane McMeeken says the girl “had to be remanded in Police Custody for several nights because there is no appropriate female remand facility in the South Island"
The judge told the Youth Court in Christchurch that she was “most concerned that a 14-year-old girl should be in that situation knowing as I do that there are no facilities for exercise.
"'A'* (the 14-year-old girl) has told me she was not provided with books or magazines and particularly given the Covid-19 Crisis I did not consider that the police cells were in any way appropriate,” Judge McMeeken said.
In October 2018, Oranga Tamariki repurposed the South Island’s main youth justice facility for teenage girls, at Te Puna Wai on the outskirts of Christchurch, to primarily house boys instead. They promised a remand home for young women.
Judge McMeeken says “advice was given when the court indicated concerns about that, that a remand home would be established in Christchurch where young females could go.”
“Unfortunately, that remand home has not eventuated and so the closest secure facility for young girls is a facility in Palmerston North. In these troubled times it is not easy to transport young women to Palmerston North.”
The 14-year-old girl spent April 6 and April 7 in a police cell as well the nights of the 20 April and 21 April.
She was then temporarily moved into a bespoke unit, in isolation at Te Puna Wai (Christchurch), female staff arranged for a further two nights until a suitable remand option was found.
It wasn’t deemed appropriate to send the young woman to the female youth justice facilities in Palmerston North or to a home in Dunedin.
1 NEWS has also learnt that another teenage girl spent one night in a Christchurch police cell last week.
Criminal Justice advocate Tania Sawicki Mead of “Just Speak” says “it's totally unacceptable that they're being held in police cells and is also unacceptable that they're being sent hundreds of miles away from their families”.
At around 10 per cent, females make up a very small proportion of those in the youth justice sector.
Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft says Covid-19 has put the spotlight on the inadequate management on some of them.
“The good news is there are so few girls in the system but that means that the downside is there are insufficient facilities and programmes for girls and it means that girls are prejudiced and disadvantaged by the current system - that's not acceptable”
He’s also very concerned at the use of police cells for young offenders.
“The use of adult police cells in solitary confinement is just plain unacceptable” and that it’s “contrary to international norms,” he said.
Meanwhile lawyers who represent young female offenders in the South Island say their clients are disadvantaged when they are sent away.
Youth advocate Siobhan McNulty says “the difficulty is that when they're in the North Island they're away from their whanau, their support services, their social workers and their lawyers, and particularly for young women who might be facing trial and needing a lot of contact with their lawyers, that's incredibly difficult when they are placed in the North Island.”
Since Te Puna Wai was repurposed in October 2018, Oranga Tamariki says young females from the South Island have been moved from to North Island facilities on at least 17 occasions.
Oranga Tamariki say they’re building two designated homes for teenage girls on the grounds of Te Puna Wai but this work has been delayed, due to the national lockdown. They're also hoping to have remand homes in Nelson and Invercargill by the end of the year.
Meanwhile Judge Becroft says “we've waited too long and in the meantime, girls have been clearly disadvantaged”.
*The 14-year-old girl was called ‘A’ in Judge Jane McMeeken’s minute.
SHARE ME