LET THE PUBLIC KNOW

Insistence by the judicial system that youthful criminals be afforded anonymity is a travesty.

Young people convicted of serious crime do not deserve to have their identities shielded in this way.

I well remember a case that happened in Katherine probably thirty years ago. A number of 12 and 13-year-olds broke into the Clyde Fenton Primary School in the late hours of the night. They turned on hose reels linked to fire hydrants and flooded the school library.

The design of the library was such that there was a pool like recess in the middle of the resource area. That filled up with water which then overflowed across the floors and carpets.

Damage was extensive! The offenders were identified, “revealed“ to the school and had their names and details of their aberrant activities published in the “Katherine Times“ newspaper.

I thought that was an enlightening step by the local news media. The community was justifiably outraged, the miscreants called out and shamed to the whole of the Katherine community.

The do-gooders of course took umbrage that these precious young souls had been so identified. Some do gooders castigated the paper for its vision in publishing the names of the miscreants.

Publish names. Anonymity is not deserved! Reveal them.