Queensland concedes law imposing mandatory jail on some offenders as young as 10 breaches human rights

State government says ‘breach bail, go to jail’ laws raise risk of overcrowding in jails, while one expert warns they may lead to ‘cruel outcomes’

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The Queensland government’s latest law and order crackdown – subjecting some children as young as 10 to a mandatory sentence of a year behind bars – could lead to “cruel outcomes”, according to human rights lawyers.

In documents tabled with the legislation on Thursday, the government conceded its laws, dubbed “breach bail, go to jail”, would breach human rights and risk further straining the state’s overcrowded jails, youth detention centres and police watch houses.