The inadequacy in assessing foetal alcohol spectrum disorder could lead to further injustices, WA Chief Justice Wayne Martin has warned, as he explained the reasons for reducing the sentence of a teenager who killed his baby.
The baby died from severe head injuries after being brutally bashed by his young father at Bunbury Regional Hospital in February 2014.
The teenager, aged 15 at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was originally sentenced to 10 years in detention.
But an appeal was lodged, arguing the sentence was excessive, before it was also revealed the teenager had FASD, which meant he had suffered an "organic brain injury" as a result of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
The WA Court of Appeal earlier this year reduced the boy's sentence to seven years in detention, with eligibility for supervised release after serving half the term, but the reasons were only published on Thursday.
Chief Justice Martin said it was remarkable that the original defence counsel, the court and the authors of the pre-sentence psychiatric or psychological reports did not identify the "fairly obvious prospect" the teenager might be affected by FASD, or initiated an assessment to find out.
He also noted a parliamentary inquiry failed to make any reference to the prospect that the teenager might suffer from FASD or should at least be assessed.
Chief Justice Martin added the teenager's condition only came to light because there were screenings being undertaken at the detention facility by the Telethon Kids Institute.
"The inadequacy of the arrangements for the assessment of FASD in this state make it impossible to make any meaningful assessment of the extent to which that condition is suffered by offenders in this state," he said.
"Unless those arrangements are improved, not only will injustice be suffered by those who commit crime, at least in part because of a condition which they suffer through no fault of their own, but also the opportunity to reduce the risk to the community by appropriately managing such offenders will be lost."
