Maryborough mourns crash victims as teen faces court

Nick Gibbs | May 2, 2023

A 13-year-old boy has faced a closed sitting of the Maryborough Children’s Court as a tight-knit community mourns three people killed in a multi-car crash. 

The teenager is charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing death after allegedly crashing a stolen Mercedes in the regional Queensland town of Maryborough on Sunday night.

The female victims have been identified in media reports as Michale Chandler, 29, Kelsie Davies, 17, and Sheree Robertson, 52.

A fourth victim, 23-year-old Kaylah Behrens, survived the impact and remains in critical condition after being airlifted to a Brisbane hospital. 

The 13-year-old faced a closed court on Tuesday, with media denied access to the brief hearing before the teen was adjourned to reappear on Wednesday.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the incident showed why the criminal age of responsibility should not be raised. 

“We have states across Australia who want to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14,” he told Nine’s Today program.

“That would mean that 13-year-old would not be held to account.”

Mr Leavers argued children should face tougher penalties and be held accountable for their crimes.

“The courts have actually got to stand up when we lock these kids back up and actually deal with them.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her heart went out to the families affected by the fatal collision.

“I think all Queenslanders share our absolute sadness about the tragedy,” the premier said on Tuesday.

She refused to be drawn on calls for recidivist juvenile offenders to be sentenced as adults and ruled out any introduction of curfews. 

“I do recognise that there are communities that are hurting today, especially after the tragedy that unfolded,” she said.

“We’ve just passed tougher laws and it’s going to take time for those laws to take effect for the judiciary to understand the complexity of those laws.

“These are very, very complex issues.” 

Fraser Coast Deputy Mayor Denis Chapman said his community was in mourning.

“A lot of these people are well known through the community, like the nurse, a lot of the nurses work with her and said how lovely a person she was,” he told Today on Tuesday.

“People out there are just very upset over what’s happened.”