The case first came before the NSW Supreme Court in March. Judge Paul Brereton ordered the immediate and indefinite incarceration of the boy, pending a report on his treatment.

Details of the case were published in the children's court journal, Children's Law News, yesterday.

The boy's medical history suggests that he has myriad problems, including a developmental delay, attention deficit disorder, a conduct disorder, trauma, major depression and anxiety disorder.

In February last year he was placed in the care of the Department of Community Services which placed him with a private service provider, known as Lifestyle Solutions. He was then put in a unit where he was the only resident.

In June last year, the landlord cancelled the lease because of the damage caused by the boy.

He was moved to another Lifestyle Solutions unit, where he again lived alone and began taking part in "extreme risk-taking behaviour", including jumping from the roof and playing chicken with the traffic.

Between December 3 and December 13 last year he was admitted to Nepean Hospital five times to be sedated. He had to have an operation to "surgically remove from his left forearm a refill for a disposable biro pen, which he had deliberately inserted there".

On December 24, he "picked open one of the wounds" and further surgery was needed to close it. On December 28, he inserted a piece of Lego into his forearm. Again, it had to be surgically removed. Three days later, while recovering in hospital, he "extensively damaged two rooms on his ward".

In January, DOCS received permission to sedate him, use "reasonable force to restrain him", and move him from the hospital to a new unit, constructed by DOCS for extremely troubled teenagers. The boy has two staff with him at all times, shadowed by two security guards. If restraint is required, security guards provide it.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26274708-5006784,00.html

Font Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Caroline Overington | October 29, 2009
Article from:  The Australian
A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has been detained indefinitely by order of the NSW Supreme Court, with two full-time staff, flanked by two security guards, to watch over him.

The boy, described in court documents as troubled and violent, once shoved a refill from a plastic biro so far into his forearm that it had to be removed under general anaesthetic.

His case has confounded the best adolescent mental health specialists in NSW, who admit to being able to treat the boy only by isolating, restraining and medicating him. The hope is that he will one day become secure enough in his surroundings to begin rehabilitation.

Maybe - but some people are so damaged - there is no future for them. Look at Dennis Ferguson - the pedophile and serial killers etc. This child is in so much pain that life is unbearable for him and when he finds the right opportunity he may kill himself.