Qld; 13 year old pregnant girl locked in police watchhouse

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-1999
Qld; 13 year old pregnant girl locked in police watchhouse

BRISBANE, Dec 30 AAP - Police have been accused of being "heavy-handed" in their treatment
of a 13-year-old pregnant girl who was locked in a police watchhouse in Toowoomba, west
of Brisbane, this week.

The girl, was arrested by a police officer she is accused of previously assaulting,
appeared in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court yesterday and was remanded in custody until
January 6.

Her barrister, Scott Lynch, said the girl should not have been held in an adult watchhouse.

"It is most inappropriate and a sad day for justice when a magistrate remands a pregnant
13-year-old in custody merely because she was 20 minutes late on a curfew," Mr Lynch told
ABC radio.

"I have no hesitation in saying the police were most heavy-handed in this situation."

The girl, four months pregnant, was taken into custody on Tuesday night when she was
walking in her pyjamas with her three-year-old cousin.

She had been granted bail last week and ordered to observe a 6pm to 9am curfew.

The girl spent 14 hours in the Toowoomba watchhouse on Tuesday night but has since
been moved to a Brisbane juvenile detention centre.

Mr Lynch said the girl would apply for bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court this morning.

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCC) spokesman Terry O'Gorman was not immediately
available for comment.

AAP rad/cjh H

KEYWORD: PREGNANT

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.