Statement and Plea to the Court by Joanne Brooker

Your Honour,

I make this statement and Plea as a mother and ask that you take the
following mitigating circumstances into your considerations.

I have witnessed Shay change since he was a child and ever since I had
to flee with my three children and go to refuges for women in an effort to
keep my children and myself safe. And this is additional to the facts of
coming from a broken home and at one stage with a parent in prison as
well.

And there have been even more changes as Shay as learnt to survive
the local area since my sons and I were provided with emergency
housing at Kingston, in Logan City.

Unfortunately I was not able to insist on living elsewhere and while my

family and I have relied on this emergency housing provided to us it was
impossible for me to isolate my children from the local environment and I
have watched all of my children adjust to survive living in this local
Kingston area.

All of us have witnessed street violence and all of my children have

endured random beatings in the street as well as being specifically
targeted by local bullies and local gangs as they were initially seen as
soft targets.

We have also seen and heard a lot of domestic violence in the local
streets and my children have all manner of violence from people
swinging baseball bats through to people loading theirs guns in a
running street battle as a way to resolve a neighbourhood dispute.

I have watched the influences of the different local values where drugs
and violence are normal and seen all of my children harden as we all
learnt to survive while living in the area close to the Kingston railway
station which I believe is also known to the police for the above average
violence and aggression.

Shay had to harden to survive this violent area and also had the added
pressure of being the oldest of my sons and so he had to shoulder the
extra responsibility of being the biggest brother and protector of his
younger two brothers.

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Unfortunately this has led to my son making a number of poor choices
and I feel that I have failed in my attempts to set family values that are in
conflict with the values required to survive as a youth in the violent local
environment.

I cannot account for the times since Shay left this home however I would
have to say that some of the guidance and examples set before him
have not always led to wise decisions but instead this too has
contributed to the obvious fact that my son has made mistakes in
judgement and subsequently to his being punished by the Courts.

Since realising the error of his ways my son has distanced himself from
his past and is becoming a young man who thinks of the future and
considers the consequences of his actions. He is in a relationship with a
beautiful young woman with whom he is creating a responsible future
and taken on the further responsibility for looking after his brother Daniel
and will be providing me with what has now become palliative care, and
then ultimately further leadership to his brothers after that.

Shay has been punished by the Court and I believe the lesson has got
through to him. He has changed his ways and I have seen his change of
values and I am very pleased as he has distanced himself his past and
become more responsible in his relationship with his girlfriend Samantha
as well as taking on the responsibility of ensuring he looks after his
younger brother Daniel, who now lives under Shays roof.

I also ask that you take into account that I have recently been diagnosed
with terminal cancer. And I trust that you understand that I wish to spend
as much time with my children as I can, and that it is also my wish to be
nursed by all my children when that time comes.

As a mother and son we have prayed for the Lords forgiveness for my
sons dishonours and I make my plea to you to forgive my son and I
further plead and move the Court to forgive my son for his dishonours
and mistakes, to be merciful to my son and show leniency and to please
understand that he looked into his heart and is remorseful and has
changed his ways.

In good faith

Joanne Brooker

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