Australia: magistrate cites 'brutal' jail conditions in sentencing two young men

Two young Northern Territory men who went on a crime spree across three jurisdictions have been sent to jail. Ethan Austral, 18, and Rhys McLean, 23, were involved in police pursuits through South Australia and into New South Wales last December. They were passengers in a car driven by Ethan Austral’s brother Jermaine, who had escaped from the Alice Springs jail.

The pair fled when the car was intercepted at Broken Hill in far-west NSW, where they stole a car that they drove to Ivanhoe. At Ivanhoe, Austral and McLean took another car before they surrendered to police on the Barrier Highway. They pleaded guilty to charges including stealing the cars, being a passenger in a stolen car, and being involved in a police pursuit.

Prior incarceration a factor, magistrate says¶

In sentencing on Monday, Broken Hill Local Court magistrate Geoff Dunlevy found both men had good prospects for rehabilitation. He said both had spent much of their youth incarcerated in conditions that were at times “brutal” and “substandard”, which provided some context for their actions.

He highlighted their youth, and said both showed signs of wanting to turn their lives around and had plans for their future, including taking up art and sport. Both men also grew up in family environments where substance abuse and violence was seen as normal, the magistrate said.

However, he said the theft of the car in Broken Hill would have been a “frightening” experience for the residents of the home from where it was stolen, which included a child, and that the family’s presence was a significant aggravating factor.

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