Footscray stabbing: New details of 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing Melbourne woman to death revealed
Worrying new details have emerged about the 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a 37-year-old woman to death, including that she had run away from care homes 'hundreds of times' and appeared to be 'significantly under the influence of substances' at the time are. of the alleged attack.
The young girl, who cannot be identified due to her age, is accused of killing the elderly woman in the early hours of November 16 at the former Royal Hotel pub-turned-hostel and apartments in Footscray, Melbourne.
She was arrested on the spot and taken to hospital under police guard for medical examination. She was charged with murder later that day.
This week, in court proceedings, it was revealed that carers of the girl, who has been in the care of the state since childhood, reported escalating violent behavior in the 20 months before her arrest.
The High Court heard the girl had run away 275 times in the past three years and had been missing for two weeks when she was arrested at the Barkly St apartments.
A 12-year-old girl is alleged to have stabbed a 37-year-old woman to death at the former Royal Hotel pub-turned-hostel and apartments in Footscray on November 16 (pictured, forensics on site)
The High Court heard that the girl has been in the custody of the state since childhood and has run away 275 times in the past three years (photo, police at the scene)
The girl ran away on average twice a week for 'one to two' nights Herald Sun reports.
The court also heard that the girl's carers had made at least 10 reports of violent behavior in the 20 months before her arrest.
The alleged incidents include robbing a shop at knifepoint to steal alcohol, carrying a knife in public, stealing her carer's car, attacking three people on separate occasions and breaking the window of a resident with a stone.
The 12-year-old had to undergo fingerprinting and DNA analysis to compare her samples with those found at the crime scene, but her criminal trial was delayed by a debate over whether the media should be allowed to report on the trial.
The court on Friday rejected an injunction bid from Victoria's Department of Families, Fairness and Housing after it cited “parental concerns” about the girl's welfare if details of her case made the news.
Details revealed in the court proceedings over the past five weeks were kept secret until Judge James Elliott found on Friday that the gag order was unnecessary because existing laws regarding children's anonymity already gave her a “significant degree of protection.”
Now that the bid has been rejected, the girl's forensic hearing can continue and new details of the crime scene will be revealed.
The girl's caregivers made ten reports of escalating violence, including an alleged incident where she robbed a store at knifepoint to steal alcohol (photo, forensic officer on scene)
Details of the crime scene have been kept secret while the court heard a silence order on the case by Victoria's Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (pictured, investigators on scene)
Nothing has yet been released about the circumstances of the murder.
The court also heard the girl had a history of abuse, was sexually exploited by adults and would drink alcohol as her 'choice of substance abuse'.
While in hospital following her arrest for the alleged stabbing, the 12-year-old appeared to be “significantly” under the influence of substances and told a psychiatrist: “I'm going to kill you motherfuckers.”
The alleged violent behavior continued after she was transferred to a state-run secure residential facility while on bail.
The Ministry of Family, Fairness and Housing initially opposed the girl being held in a detention center due to her vulnerable condition.
Instead, it supported the girl's bail for a therapeutic support service, as long as she was kept in a secure space away from other children and prevented from leaving the facility.
However, this week the department filed an application to revoke the girl's bail after hearing that the facility could no longer handle her behavior.
The gag order was dismissed on Friday, allowing the girl's forensic hearing to go ahead (photo, police on scene)
The girl is being held on bail in a secure care facility but has reportedly threatened staff several times (pictured, investigators on scene in Footscray)
“The secretary can no longer guarantee the safety of the young person, nor the department staff who care for her and the community while the young person remains in secure care,” the attorney said. Age reports.
The court heard that staff were forced to use physical restraints to control the girl, including since her arrest.
“She has physically or verbally assaulted our staff in the past,” a government official told the court.
On December 17, a month after she was charged, she told staff, “I'm going to burn the building down and I'm going to hurt people.”
The next day she threatened the other children and told the workers, “If I wasn't safe, you'd be in a hospital.”
Victoria Police supported the revocation of the girl's bail, saying she did not have the resources to be “on standby” if she suddenly needed to be transferred to a more secure facility.
Judge James Elliott denied the request and the girl remains in the care facility on bail.
The court heard the girl tell staff at the therapeutic facility: 'I'm going to burn the building down and I'm going to hurt people' while out on bail (photo, police at scene)
The case will return to court in January following a failed application to move the girl to a safer facility (photo, police on scene)
“I have no intention of revoking bail,” he said.
'That's for sure [the child] suffers from an intellectual disability and has the intellectual capabilities of someone much younger than her 12 years.
“It is estimated that her maturity and level of understanding is equal to that of a six-year-old.”
Instead, Elliott amended her bail condition to require police to respond urgently to all calls regarding the child.
The case will return to court in January.