Judge issues WA government contempt of court warning over children detained in adult prison

The WA government has been warned it risks being found in contempt of court for continuing to house juvenile detainees in an adult prison, with a senior Perth judge describing what was happening as "barbaric", "cruel" and "a form of child abuse".

The President of the Children's Court, Hylton Quail, made his comments while sentencing two teenagers to non-custodial sentences for a series of burglaries and robberies committed between June and August this year.

The teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were being held in Unit 18 of Casuarina adult prison, which in July was set up as "a short term facility" to house a small cohort of teenagers because of what authorities called their extreme behaviour inside the Banksia Hill juvenile detention centre.

Read More: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-21/judge-warns-wa-government-over-housing-children-at-casuarina/101564162