"He is a sweet child"

Hmmm... I'm really using a funny picture to illustrate a terrible story.

A story of perhaps the worst bulliying attack Australia has ever seen is emerging from Western Australia this week.

A 13 year old boy was held captive, punched, bashed, forced to lie in a "grave" and told he was going to die. He was whipped with tree braches, hit with a nail-filled plank of wood and hung from a tree by his underpants. When his attackers, five boys aged between 12 and 14, finally let him go, they made him walk rather than take a bus, or they would "throw rocks" at him. After the hour long walk home, and after the six hours of torture he had been subjected to, he told his mother, who told the police.

One of the most concerning factors for me is the attitude of the mother of the 12 year old ringleader. This boy reported already has a criminal history for an assault earlier this year. Her response to the journalists outside her court, after her son had been refused bail was "he is really a sweet child. I have lost faith in the justice system".

What exactly is her definition of "sweet"? What would constitute a naughty child if this boy is "sweet"? And what about justice for the victim? I'm thinking she may not approve of the type of justice I would recommend for her son and those other boys.