Young offenders escape from Qld boot camp



POLICE have captured two teenagers who escaped from a far north Queensland boot camp for juvenile offenders.


A boy, 13, and a girl, 14, used a knife to threaten a carer at the facility in Kuranda, near Cairns, before running away late on Sunday, police say.

The pair then broke into a nearby house where they threatened a woman with a knife and took off with cash.

They were arrested about 4am (AEST) on Monday in Kuranda and will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act.

Tablelands Regional Council Mayor Rosa Lee Long understands the pair are the first youths to stay at the camp, which opened earlier this month amid protests by local residents.

She says residents are concerned and she’ll pass their concerns on to the state government.

“My understanding is that if (the youths) abuse the contract they signed up to then they will be dealt with much more severely by the government,” she told AAP.

“I think in a case like this, I think they do need to make an example of this sort of behaviour.”

Ms Long would not be drawn on whether she thought the camp should be shut down, saying that would be a decision for the government.

A second boot camp opened on the Gold Coast in January.

Premier Campbell Newman announced in March that other camps are planned for Townsville, Rockhampton and on the Fraser Coast by September.

Youths spend four weeks at the camps cooking, cleaning, doing physical activities and studying while under constant surveillance.

Comment has been sought from Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie.

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