A 17-year-old boy has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment after he drove a stolen car through a high school and golf course, and forced a plane to abort landing when he tried to attack the pilot.
The teenager, who can't be identified for legal reasons, appeared before the Children's Court in Broome this morning, flown up for sentencing from an adult prison in Perth.
The boy was charged with more than 30 offences dating back to last year, including random burglaries on elderly women and a pregnant couple, and an attack on a Banksia Hill guard where he stole keys and took part in a riot at the facility.
Children's Court president Hylton Quail said if the boy had appeared before him just two months later when he turned 18, he would likely have had to sentence him to 10 years' jail.
The court heard the 17-year-old had been on methylamphetamine when he stole a four-wheel-drive from a residence in Broome and drove it on the fairways of the town's golf course.
He then drove to the local high school, rammed the bull gates and forced the building into lockdown before driving along the main street of Broome.
Tourists dove out of the way as he mounted footpaths near the famed Streeter's Jetty, before police put an end to the pursuit by ramming the car and arresting the boy.
"It's fair to say, you terrorised Broome," Judge Quail said.
The boy's behaviour continued when he was placed onto a small custodial plane with other detainees to be flown down to Perth's Banksia Hill Detention Centre.
The Department of Justice said minutes into the flight, the boy attempted to attack the pilot and started trying to kick out the windows of the tiny Cessna.
President Quail said this was some of the boy's worst behaviour.
"Had he not been stopped by the brave officers who restrained him, there was a real risk the plane could have crashed and everyone on board would have died," he said.
The teenager's time in custody also was not without incident.
In April last year, he was in the Unit 18 facility at Casuarina when he and other boys rushed a guard and stole her keys.
He used the keys to unlock cells, and the boys went to the roof and started a long riot that caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the facility.
The court heard the boy had been in and out of prison since he was 11, after a history of family dysfunction and trauma.
Judge Quail said due to his diagnosis of FASD and ADHD, he struggled with endless lockdowns at Banksia Hill and the unit 18 facility, which had contributed to the decision to move him to an adult prison at age 17 to cope.
He said the boy had spent more than 1,200 hours in lockdown since late last year, and at one point had spent 16 days in a row enduring lockdowns that lasted in excess of 20 hours day.
Judge Quail sentenced the boy to three years' jail, and made him eligible for parole.
"Being in jail is no life, you can do better than this," he said.