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Police v W [1996] NZFLR 902 (DC)

Case summary provided by LEXISNEXIS NZ

Name: Police v W
Reported: [1996] NZFLR 902
File number: CRN 6090007669-70, 5290028717, 5090028719, 5090028721
Date: 22 March 1996
Court: District Court
Location: Henderson
Judge: McElrea DCJ
Charge: Kidnapping
CYPF no: s275; s277
Key Title: Jointly Charged with Adult; Adult co-offenders; Jurisdiction of the Youth Court - s275 offer/election
LEXISNEXIS NZ Summary:

Children and young persons - Kidnapping charge - Two adults jointly charged with young person - Forum for defended hearing - Whether young person should be dealt with in Youth Court - Whether the proceedings should be dealt with in the Youth Court or elsewhere - Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989, ss 275, 277.

The defendants, a woman aged 43 years and her two sons aged 20 and 16 years, together set about detaining the complainant, a young man of 14 years, in order to ensure that his girlfriend, the woman's daughter, returned home. The complainant and the daughter had previously run away. The complainant was severely beaten by the defendants. At a preliminary hearing evidence was given and a case conceded in respect of each defendant. The questions before the Court were firstly, whether the young person ought to be given the opportunity to be dealt with by a Youth Court Judge in the Youth Court by way of a defended hearing on the kidnapping charge. And secondly, whether the proceedings should be heard in a Youth Court or elsewhere because of the two adults jointly charged with the young person.

Held (declining jurisdiction and directing that matters proceed to the High Court)

(1) The seriousness of the particular offending and the part played by the young person were in favour of the matter being dealt with by Judge and jury.

(2) If the charge against the young person were to be dealt with in the Youth Court, the consequence would be that there would have to be separate trials or all three would be dealt with in the Youth Court. The Court did not consider it desirable to have three separate trials.

(3) It was also not desirable to have all three dealt with in the Youth Court as two of the three persons were adults, the young person himself was almost of District Court jurisdiction, the nature and seriousness of the charges made it appropriate for trial by Judge and jury, and there was opportunity to impose more appropriate sentences in the High Court.

Application

This was an application to have a young person dealt with in the Youth Court and to have the two adults jointly charged also dealt with in the Youth Court.‡

Page 903; [1996] NZFLR 902