Parents demand action after five-year-old son brutally attacked with golf club
William Brooks-Chiplin was playing in the front yard of his friend’s house in Tamworth, NSW on Thursday, when he was allegedly attacked with a golf club by another child.
The five-year-old's face was extremely swollen and he was left dizzy and unable to move his jaw.
“The people who came out and saw it thought he was gone. He didn’t make a sound, and he wasn’t moving,” his father, Kayleb Brooks, said.
“My thought was he was going to die. No kid should ever experience that,” his mother, Marrisa Tisdell, added.
His parents also said the young boy “is having nightmares, waking up and screaming in his sleep”.
William is required to return to hospital for further scans to determine whether he has any hairline fractures or issues with his eyesight.
NSW Police said they identified the 10-year-old accused of hitting William, and he had been given a warning under the Young Offenders Act, designed to provide an alternative process to court proceedings for children accused of crimes.
For children aged between 10 and 14 years, the act is design in such way because, “a child cannot be held criminally responsible for their conduct because they don’t understand right or wrong”, according to Hugo Law Group’s Linday Stankovic.
However, William's parents are calling for the government to change the age of criminal responsibility following the incident.
“The kid pretty much just got a caution,” William's mum said.
“(It’s) is unfair, because in the meantime he is suffering and nothing is being done about it,” his dad added.
However, things aren't that simple as there are other concerns about the implication.
Earlier this month, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner wrote to the NT government urging it to not lower the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10-years-old.
“The younger a child comes into contact with the criminal justice system, the more likely they will go on to commit more serious and violent crimes," National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said.
“Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years will not make communities safer, it will only see rates of child offending increase.
“These are primary school age children, and harsh, punitive responses are not the answer. “
A recent report also found that more than three-quarters of children had mental health needs or cognitive disability, and 47 per cent had multiple diagnosed cognitive disabilities.
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