The boy, accused of carrying out a shooting at a school in Perth’s northern suburbs has been granted bail – but he won’t be going home.
The 15-year-old, who can’t be named, appeared in Perth Children’s Court on Wednesday afternoon for a bail application hearing.
Magistrate Alana Padmanabham ordered the boy to undergo a psychiatrist’s assessment during a brief appearance on Tuesday. It was carried out on Wednesday morning, before it was delivered verbally to the court that afternoon.
The psychiatrist said her assessment indicated that the boy did not pose a risk to the community or to himself.
However, she noted that he did have mental health needs that require treatment, and that treatment can be adequately addressed in a custodial setting.
Dramatic bodycam vision showed an officer force the 15-year-old boy, who was alleged to be WA’s first school shooter, to the ground
The 15-year-old (pictured), who can’t be named, appeared in Perth Children’s Court on Wednesday afternoon for a bail application hearing
Ms Padmanabham determined while the boy wouldn’t be released into the custody of his parents, he would be put in the care of a bail hostel until his next court appearance on July 12.
He will also have a 24-hour curfew as part of his bail conditions, meaning he will not be allowed to leave the hostel.
The magistrate said it was not a criticism but rather she had concerns over their ability to supervise him.
State prosecutor Brad Hollingsworth strongly opposed bail on the grounds that the alleged offences were ‘extremely serious’ and the potential risk to the community was ‘too great’.
But Ms Padmanabham noted ‘a child has a qualified right to bail’ and she couldn’t deny him bail despite the serious nature of the offences.
WA Police charged the boy with seven offences following the incident last Wednesday.
Police allege he fired three shots from a rifle in the carpark of Atlantis Beach Baptist College in the outer-northern Perth suburb of Two Rocks.
Two of the three shots pierced the side of a demountable classroom, which had a student and staff member inside at the time, but no one was injured.
Mr Hollingsworth on Wednesday also provided more details about the alleged incident and a triple-0 call the boy made in the moments after the shooting.
Police have carried out a preliminary analysis of the boy’s phone, and Mr Hollingsworth told the court that Snapchat messages between the boy and a friend indicated he intended to ‘shoot up the school’ and ‘kill people’.
Magistrate Alana Padmanabham had concerns over his parents’ ability to supervise him. Pictured, the boy’s parents leave court last week
One featured a photo of the boy and the French phrase ‘quelque chose de sinister’ -‘something sinister’ in English.
Search engine history allegedly found in the weeks leading up to the shooting showed that he had queried things like ‘do people get solitary confinement for shooting’ and questioned what education was like in juvenile detention.
It was also revealed in court that the boy’s mother had unenrolled him from Atlantis Beach Baptist College via email on May 23 – the day before the alleged shooting.
He had missed school on a number of days in the lead-up to May 24.
More details of the triple-0 call were also revealed; Mr Hollingsworth said the boy called emergency services immediately after the shooting, spoke calmly, alleged he had ‘200 rounds’ of ammunition and didn’t know if he had hurt anyone.
Asked if he intended to hurt anyone anymore, he said ‘not anymore’, Mr Hollingworth told the court.
‘He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s collected, he’s certainly not raving and carrying on like someone who’s mentally unwell,’ said Mr Hollingsworth, describing the call.
‘He’s not shouting, he’s not saying things that don’t make sense.’
The boy has been held at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre since his arrest last Wednesday, appearing in court via video link due to ongoing problems at Banksia Hill making detainee transport difficult.
Riots in recent months have significantly damaged the centre’s infrastructure, and an ongoing shortage of prison guards is exacerbating the problem.
Officers are seen entering through the main school entrance and walking through to a demountable classroom that had been struck by a bullet
The boy will remain in Banksia Hill in the interim, as the bail hostel to which he has been assigned did not have an available place at the time of the bail hearing.
The shooting placed the school into lockdown for about an hour, with the college partially closed until normal classes resumed on Monday.
Outgoing WA Premier Mark McGowan held a media conference outside the school on Thursday after a tour of the college.
He said there were too many guns in WA and talked up proposed gun law reforms he announced in April.
He said, if passed, it would make WA’s gun laws ‘the toughest in Australia’.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk