South Australia rolls out new youth crime laws after shocking child gang crime

The South Australian government is tonight moving to get tougher on repeat child criminals, blocking their release on bail, and changing laws to allow harsher punishment.

The move was revealed in the aftermath of a shocking child gang crime in which workers were attacked as a bottle shop in the Adelaide suburb of Plympton was trashed.

The incident, which involved a group of up to 12 teenagers and children, some as young as 10, saw workers at the bottle shop allegedly attacked after two young girls were caught attempting to steal alcohol. 

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Palmer Hospitality Group chief executive Hugo Burton said the workers "shut up the shop and a number of youths went around to the front and tried to get in and when they couldn't, threw a few rocks". 

One worker was punched multiple times in the face.

Five individuals were arrested at the scene, including a 17-year-old boy who was also charged with breaching his bail conditions. 

All those arrested were subsequently released on bail. 

"They understand there's no consequences for their actions and they can get away with whatever they want really," Burton said. 

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Following the incident, Attorney-General Kyam Maher introduced new laws to crack down on youth crime, targeting repeat young offenders.

"This will have consequences in terms of tougher sentencing and harder access to get bail," he said.

However, the opposition has criticised the government's response.

"We don't have enough police, we've got weak laws and we've got a government which always has law and order in the go-slow lane," shadow police minister Jack Batty said.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.