The boy, now aged 15, was considered a "follower" within the group and was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter at trial, while six of his co-offenders were jailed for murder. He was sentenced to four years detention, with the opportunity for early release on supervised parole. Two years into his sentence, the boy was released in February 2018. He lived with his older brother, referred to as a "shining light" in the boy's life – with many of his other older siblings in jail. During the first six months, he obeyed his curfew and passed drug tests associated with his supervised release.

Loading However, seven months in his whereabouts became unknown despite supervised release orders typically requiring a child be under the supervision of a Department of Justice youth justice officer. With no stable housing and no schooling, the boy – mostly accompanied by older cousins – began breaking into homes and stealing cars. The offending involved some sophistication, with the power to one house being turned off beforehand, and the boy being caught with Google satellite screenshots of another property while trespassing on it. But his crimes came to an abrupt end on March 13, when the boy became involved in a high speed chase with police about 9am while behind the wheel of a stolen BMW.

The boy, who is too young to hold a driver's licence, raced through several suburbs, and reached speeds of up to 140 kilometres an hour in a 70 kilometre zone in Coolbellup, before becoming bogged in soft sand near roadworks and running away. He was found a short time later hiding in a Yangebup backyard by the police canine unit and was taken back into custody for breaching his supervised release order. In August, he appeared in Perth Children's Court before Judge Julie Wager for sentencing. Instead of the tearful 11-year-old the court had seen on previous occasions leaning into his mother, the 15-year-old had grown taller, his voice had deepened, and he had a moustache. Judge Wager heard how the boy was intelligent, naturally athletic, and had strong leadership skills.

During his most recent stint in Banksia Hill Detention Centre he had engaged frequently in football, basketball and soccer programs, and had re-engaged in schooling. Before his arrest in 2016, the boy had attended school just 25 per cent of the time in 2015, when he was aged 10, and was raised in a disadvantaged household marred by drug use and domestic violence. The boy's lawyer Tony Hager told Judge Wager his client had been "led astray" by older relatives during his most recent offending. "It's unfortunate that in late September 2018 there was some issues at home which saw him move between family members," he said. "He was associating with some cousins that he describes sort of lead him down the garden path and unfortunately the offending has thereafter ensued.

Loading "He was concerned about going back to Banksia [Hill] and knew that he had done the wrong thing by not keeping up with his obligations under the supervised release regime." The boy committed his offences over a six-month period during a time when he was serving the remainder of his four-year manslaughter sentence within the community, under strict supervision conditions. The boy, aside from his 13-month stint out of detention, has been behind bars since February 2016, between the ages of 11 and 15. In sentencing him to an extra one month in prison, Judge Wager commended him for the positive reports he had received from Banksia Hill staff during the past six months.

"That's a report that says some really great things about you," she said. The boy has spent most of the past three years in Banksia Hill Detention Centre. "It says you're ... a very polite and compliant student, you follow instructions and you attempt all of the tasks that are provided for you by your teacher. "I look at things like the basketball program, rugby program, Perth football, soccer program and the Department of Emergency Services cadets and you've just done so many sessions there and achieved so much, it's just fantastic. "[Your sports teacher] goes on to talk about your leadership and that you assist and encourage ... he describes you as a naturally gifted athlete."

Judge Wagner said the boy risked killing himself or innocent members of the public when he engaged in a "very long" pursuit with police in March 2019. "There were people working on the road and you could have hit them," she said. "So it's possible that you could have killed yourself, other people who were just road users or people who were there working on the road." "That's not fair to put people through that risk and that's why you've got to be punished." She said the boy's brother was still supportive of him and wanted the 15-year-old to return to live with him after completing his sentence.

"It seems [your brother] and [his partner] and their family are people who really want the best for you, and they want to make sure that you have a good life in the future and that you do the best you can," she said. "You've still got a lot of supervised release to go when you get out, and you're an intelligent young man and know exactly what's going to happen if you ... breach [your order]." The boy was punished through time already served for most of his new offences, including stealing four motor vehicles, two burglaries, breaching his supervision order and trespass. He received an additional month in detention for reckless driving, and had his licence disqualified for two years, meaning he is not permitted to drive a car until he is 19. A Department of Justice spokesman was not able to comment on when it realised the boy was missing, citing privacy laws, but spoke generally on supervised release orders.