NT teens tortured in shock film
THE shocking treatment of children at a Northern Territory detention centre, including tear-gassing and brutal restraint, has been exposed by a Sydney-based law firm that is representing two of the youths. 
Distressing video aired last night of a supposed "riot" at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin in   August 2014 shows only one child escaped his cell when the door was left open and smashed a light fixture.
Five kids, including two who had been playing cards, were locked up. All were tear-gassed while guards laughed and said they would "pulverise" one of the boys.
That is in stark contrast to claims made by corrections officials at the time that a number of kids had threatened guards with makeshift knives and other weapons.
It also appears to back up a Children's Commissioner investigation previously reported by the NT News newspaper that the children were held in solitary confinement longer than legally permitted and that guards made "no meaningful attempts" to find a peaceful solution before tear-gassing them.
Peter O'Brien, a lawyer representing two of the youths in legal action against the NT government, said last night the handling of youth detainees at the centre would be classified by the United Nations as "torture".
"A royal commission into the treatment of children in Northern Territory detention is absolutely essential to determine the extent and impact of the abuse and to determine why this abuse was allowed to occur," he said.
"When the NT government was alerted to the problem, it did nothing to ensure the safety of the children.
"In fact, after alerted to what had been happening, the NT government amended legislation to condone and broaden the abuse." The video was aired last night on the ABC's Four Corners program, which highlighted other allegations of child abuse previously reported in the NT News, including stripping children naked and prolonged use of solitary confinement.
Other documented cases included guards forcing child inmates to fight for their own entertainment and making them eat bird faeces in exchange for candy bars.
A chunk of the program focused on notorious prisoner Dylan Voller who was subjected to a "catalogue" of "abuse" inside detention centres in Darwin and Alice Springs over several years.
The program showed Voller being stripped naked by guards, thrown to the ground and strapped to a chair.
Former corrections commissioner Ken Middlebrook defended the guards' actions during the 2014 tear-gassing, saying there were only "two sprays". But CCTV footage shows 10 bursts of tear gas sprayed over 90 seconds.
Mr Middlebrook was forced to resign more than a year later, after allowing convicted rapists to take part in work release programs.Current corrections commissioner Mark Payne said yesterday changes had been made since the gas incident.