By Marcus Uhe
A 16-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison with a 14-year non-parole period after a violent outburst in November 2020 where he stabbed his mother to death and seriously injured his grandmother and half-sister.
The offender, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was 15-years-old at the time and suffering a major depressive disorder and from Autism Spectrum Disorder which “substantially contributed” to the incident, according to Justice Christopher Beale’s sentencing remarks handed down in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday 17 December.
The offender’s mother died in hospital, while his grandmother and half-sister recovered after also spending time in hospital.
The teenager plead guilty at the first reasonable opportunity to one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder which Justice Beale commended as demonstrating “genuine remorse”.
The boy’s diagnosis with ASD did not occur until September 2021 after assessment by a paediatrician.
In sentencing, the judge said he was satisfied that the boy’s undiagnosed mental health conditions reduced his moral culpability at the time of the event, and that the offender had good prospects of rehabilitation and no prior criminal convictions.
“You were only 15 years and three weeks old at the time of these shocking events,” Justice Beale said.
“To some extent, they remain inexplicable. But it has since been discovered that you were suffering from two conditions at the time of your offences — a major depressive disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
“I am satisfied that, at the very least, the undetected interaction of these two conditions over an extended period of time substantially contributed to your tragic outburst of violence on the day in question.”
Justice Beale recommended that the Adult Parole Board arrange for the boy to serve his sentence in a Youth Justice Centre “for as long as possible”, after a psychiatric assessment determined that due to his conditions he would be more susceptible to further mental health issues in an adult prison.
“I am satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that incarceration will be harder for you in the long run because of your autism and that there is a serious risk of incarceration having a significant adverse effect on your mental health when you are eventually transferred to an adult prison,” Justice Beale said.
The offender’s age was considered a mitigating circumstance but was given “reduced weight” by the judge due to the seriousness of the offending.
A psychiatric assessment established that the boy’s mental health had deteriorated since he begun secondary school and he had experienced suicidal thoughts from that period.
When police attended the incident, the boy was found in his bedroom where he repeatedly stabbed himself in the neck and stomach until he was restrained.
On the night before the incident, he recorded a message on his computer saying that if he killed his family that it would be “out of hatred”.
“That is all I will say. Although there may be more to that than that reason. But I refuse to say anymore than that,” the boy wrote.
With time already served on remand, he will be eligible for parole around his 29th birthday.
