An all too familiar story: Another Queensland couple are caught in the youth crime crisis after thugs break into their home and threaten their lives… this is their desperate plea everybody must hear

A traumatised young couple have pleaded for tougher penalties for young offenders after their home was broken into while they slept in their beds.  

Ashlyn Condullas, 22, and her partner Harry have barely slept since early Sunday morning when they were woken by two youths breaking into their Cairns home in Far North Queensland.

The brazen intruders threatened to kill the couple when confronted and then stole both of their cars.

The terrifying ordeal prompted Ms Condullas to write to premier Steven Miles, ministers and local MPs in a desperate cry for help.

The couple and Ms Condullas’ teenage sister, who lives with them, have been left broken and traumatised, fearing they will be targeted again.

Ms Condullas is the latest victim in an ever growing youth crime crisis gripping Queensland with the state government under pressure to get tough on the matter. 

‘We’ve all been left quite shocked and shattered, very anxious, very scared to be in our own home,’ Ms Condullas told Sunrise on Thursday.

‘My 16-year-old sister is too scared to sleep in her own bedroom. When I say sleeping, she’s just on the floor in our bedroom. 

‘And we’re not sleeping because we’re all hyper vigilant and scared.’

While Harry’s car has since been recovered, Ms Condullas’ silver Corolla with pink and black personalised number plates is still missing.

She accused the state government of lack of action, a frustration she says has been echoed by police trying to enforce the law. 

‘Quite a few said to me, ‘I wish they’d stop releasing them once we catch them,’ she recalled.

Ms Condullas, an allied health professional and a former young citizen of the year, issued an impassioned plea to the government to enforce tougher penalties for youth offenders.

‘Clearly we need action and we need it now,’ she continued.

‘I think that should start with mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders and with detention not viewed as a last resort.

‘Because clearly time and time again they’re doing the exact same thing once they’re released. 

‘I think it is proven they need to be detained. I also think in the cases such crime theft, break and entering, violence or where there’s a threats of violence, I think they should be tried as adult. 

‘I think the consequences are not tough enough for them. Clearly, that’s why they keep coming out and doing the same thing over and over again.’

Her open letter and comments had a lasting impression on Sunrise host Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington.

Ashlyn Condullas hopes that Queensland’s leaders will read her harrowing ordeal and desperate calls for action. Pictured is her letter sent to them

Allied health worker Ashlyn (pictured) has demanded tougher penalties for youth crime and mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders

‘I can’t believe you’re only 22 years of age. You speak such sense, Ashlyn,’ he told her at the end of the segment.

It’s understood none of the recipients of the letter have responded to Ms Condullas.

Born and raised in North Queensland, she spent time studying and starting her career in Townsville and Sunshine Coast before a job opportunity arose for her to return home in January.

But it never dawned on her she would become part of the youth crime statistics until she woke to intruders breaking into her home which left her frozen with fear.

‘Little know what awaited us would leave us with severe anxiety and post-traumatic  stress,’ she wrote.

Ashlyn Condullas (pictured) has been left shaken by the break-in and car theft

‘With the rising statistics of youth crime and lack of action from the current government, my guess is that it could quite possibly happen again.’

‘It’s safe to say that we’re traumatised and broken.’

The shattered couple’s dreams of buying their first home at the end of this year have been dashed, with their savings towards a house deposit set to go towards a new car and security upgrades in their rental home.

Ms Condullas believed the lack of tougher penalties for youth offenders and mandate sentencing for repeat offenders has ‘broken’ her state.

‘Not only the victims of crimes but also the frontline heroes risking their lives to catch these offenders, just for them to be let go with no more than a slap on the wrist,’ her letter continued. 

There are growing calls for the Queensland government to act following the tragic death of grandmother Vyleen White, 70, who was allegedly stabbed to death by a teenage boy at a Redbank Plains shopping centre last month.

Mr Miles came under fire days later after he laughed when asked by a reporter what his government was doing about youth crime in his state.

Ashlyn’s silver Corolla (left) and Harry’s Subaru XV (right) were stolen from their driveway shortly after 3am on Sunday.