A court has opted to keep Australia's youngest-ever convicted murderer locked up for now amid fears he could act out thoughts of revenge if allowed to walk free.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 13 years and 10 months old when he stabbed toddler Courtney Morley-Clarke to death after abducting her from a home on the NSW Central Coast.
He was sentenced in August 2002 to 20 years behind bars but was released in September 2023, before swiftly being returned to custody for breaching his conditions.
The NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday granted an urgent application to keep the now-37-year-old in jail for a further 28 days, under an interim detention order.
Justice Mark Ierace ordered the man to undergo psychiatric or psychological examination by at least two registered professionals, with their reports to be tendered to the court.
In arguing for an interim detention order to be placed on the man, barrister for the state government Gillian Mahony SC noted he had largely failed to provide a believable explanation for why he murdered the toddler.
“It has not been understood why he did the offending that he did,” she said.
The man also had a history of ruminating on thoughts of violent revenge towards those he perceived as having slighted him, Ms Mahony added.
On one occasion while in custody, the man used a razor to slash the hand of a correctional officer who was serving him lunch, requiring 22 stitches.
"The evidence speaks to (the fact) that the defendant had planned that and had ruminated about that for some months," Ms Mahony said.
“It was random to the extent it didn’t matter who the person was that served the lunch - but it was a planned attack.”
The man also made persistent threats towards another correctional officer, leading to a charge that he was ultimately cleared of.
While it was not disputed that threats were made, the criminal elements of the charge could not be proven, the court was told.
Ms Mahony said the man’s fixation on the officer was a considerable factor behind the application not to have him released on an extended supervision order.
“It relies upon the defendant being able to moderate and control his thoughts of revenge and that is something that he has not been able to do," she said.
Defence barrister Dev Bhutani argued a supervision order requiring a direct line of sight by an officer at all times was sufficient to reduce any threat his client might pose.
Since the threats were made against the officer in late 2023 and early 2024, there had been a significant de-escalation in the man’s fixation, he said.
“The threats were live when the defendant found himself in custody, for what he thought was wrongfully," Mr Bhutani added.
But Ms Mahony pointed out the man had a history of non-compliance with supervision orders, which had landed him back in jail already.
One month after his release on the murder sentence, the man spoke with a mother who was dressing her young son near the community showers at Bulli Beach, near Wollongong, in breach of a condition that he not approach children.
His 18-month jail sentence for that breach was backdated to his October 2023 arrest making him first eligible for release on Thursday.
