Adeline Yvette Wilson-Rigney murder: SA judge says her brother, prisoner Robert Rigney, should be bailed to care for her family
THE brother of Hillier murder victim Adeline Yvette Wilson-Rigney should be released on bail to comfort their grieving mother, a judge says, regardless of the “comedy of errors” that followed his sister’s funeral.
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THE brother of Hillier murder victim Adeline Yvette Wilson-Rigney should be bailed to comfort their grieving mother, a judge says, regardless of the “comedy of errors” that followed his sister’s funeral.
On Thursday, District Court Judge Julie McIntyre said she was prepared to grant Robert Rigney strict home detention bail as soon as he nominated a suitable address.
Rigney, who is accused of aggravated intentionally causing serious harm, sparked headlines and bureaucratic red faces the last time he was bailed, in July 2016.
Having attended his sister’s funeral, Rigney twice attempted to surrender himself to authorities but was turned away, and so remained at large to care for his relatives.
Judge McIntyre noted the incident had prompted ministerial inquiries and Rigney had been sentenced to time served for his impulsive, emotional actions.
“I am well aware of the unhappy circumstances surrounding his previous release, and the comedy of errors that followed,” she said.
“Indeed he did return (to custody) — twice.”
Ms Wilson-Rigney, 28, and her children Amber, 6, and Korey, 5, were found dead at their home at Hillier, north of Gawler, in May 2016.
On Tuesday her former partner, Steven Graham Peet, 31, of Evanston Gardens, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to murdering the young mother.
However he denied murdering the children, claiming he was in a “disassociative state” when they died due to domestic violence committed, against him, by Ms Wilson-Rigney.
On Thursday, prosecutors asked the trial be adjourned until next month so that psychiatrist Dr William Brereton could assess Peet’s claims, and Justice Malcolm Blue agreed.
Meanwhile, in the District Court, prosecutors opposed Rigney’s release saying his case was too serious.
They said that, in November 2015, he struck a man who refused to give him money over the head with a brick, causing 40 skull fractures and a laceration “so deep the bone was visible”.
Amanda Lambden, for Rigney, said her client had pleaded not guilty and needed to be with his family given developments in the Hillier trial.
“He has been in custody since December 2015 and has very much reflected on his own life having lost his sister, niece and nephew,” she said.
“He has seen and felt the grief and loss that he and his mother, in particular, have suffered ... it’s important he be able to provide some emotional support.
Judge McIntyre agreed, but said she feared “setting him up to fail” because other people living at the proposed address had drug convictions
She asked for a further report, and for Rigney to suggest another address, and adjourned the hearing until next week.