Chaos as three teens charged over Lucy Paveley released, then rearrested on courthouse steps
UPDATED: Three teenagers originally charged with the manslaughter of motorist Lucy Paveley were released from custody on Tuesday — only to be re-arrested in front of their families. DRAMATIC VIDEO
- Tears and tributes for hit-run victim Lucy Paveley
- Attorney-General vows teens will be sentenced as adults
- Analysis: Why charging teens with manslaughter is a bold move
- Emotional friends speak out: ‘Beautiful soul who put others first’
THREE of the teenagers originally charged with the manslaughter of motorist Lucy Paveley were released from custody on Tuesday — only to be dramatically re-arrested in front of their families.
Chaotic scenes erupted at the Youth Court as the boys, aged between 13 and 17, were handcuffed by seven armed SA Police officers and Operation Mandrake detectives.
The three had spent the previous 24 hours in custody, waiting to answer allegations they had killed Ms Paveley, 40, in a horror smash at Parafield on Sunday.
However, police dropped those charges just after 4.30pm and, as the trio emerged from the court’s cells, arrested them for the second time.
Asked whether he had anything to say to Ms Paveley’s family, one of the boys replied: “Nothing.”
As they were led into vans, relatives yelled “he is not f---ing resisting”.
The arrests are unusual, as the generally accepted practice is no arrests are usually made inside court buildings.
The only know exception to that rule was the arrest of Peter Falconio’s killer, Bradley John Murdoch, inside the Supreme Court more than a decade ago.
SA Police Chief Inspector Matt Nairn, who supervised the operation, told the families the boys were “being charged with other offences”.
“I just need everybody to calm down and take a breath. We will explain it to you in due time,” he said.
“I’m not doing this in the public arena. It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this.
“I would prefer it in another arena, but this is it ... you do not need to escalate this.”
When the 13-year-old’s legal guardian questioned police, he too was handcuffed and accused of car theft, only to be released and apologised to.
Chief Inspector Nairn declined to comment to The Advertiser, saying he would “brief my senior officers”.
In a statement last night, police announced the 15-year-old had been charged with car theft offences, while the 14-year-old and 13-year-old were accused of aggravated serious criminal trespass, theft and illegal use of a car.
Police said those charges “relate to the incidents that led to the fatal collision”.
They will face the Youth Court again on Wednesday.
Ms Paveley, a mother of two, died at Main North Rd, Parafield, on Sunday morning.
It was the third fatal crash involving youths in stolen cars in the past 18 months.
Ms Paveley had worked as an AnglicareSA care worker since 2013.
Her husband, Jamie, 38, is being supported by friends at their Mawson Lakes home.
A friend said he was “being well looked after” but was “very deeply hurt”.
“It is so surreal for him,” the friend told The Advertiser.
“He loved her so very much and their children will be growing up without their mother and it always will be big hole, which he will not be able to fill in.”
Despite events at the Youth Court, two people did face charges over Ms Paveley’s death.
Lyle Morrison, 18, of Pennington, appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court.
He has yet to plead to charges of manslaughter, causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated driving without due care.
He is also charged with leaving an accident scene and driving while disqualified to escape a police pursuit.
Tim McGrath, for Morrison, made no application for bail and he was remanded in custody until October.
A fourth boy, 15, faced the Youth Court before the others were released. He is yet to plead to charges that he aided and abetted each of Morrison’s alleged acts, including manslaughter and causing death by dangerous driving.
He also made no application for bail and was remanded in custody to face court again next month.
Superintendent Anthony Fioravanti, officer in charge of the Traffic Support Branch, said police decided to charge the group with manslaughter “due to the extreme nature” of the alleged crime.
“As far as we’re concerned they were acting in concert. Their actions were extreme, definitely reckless,” he said.
“They had no regard for their lives or other lives, so for that very reason we’re charging them with manslaughter.”
Supt Fioravanti said some of the group were known to police.
“They’re all so young. I don’t know why they’ve gone down this path,” he said.
“I don’t know what they were thinking at the time or what they were on.”
Attorney-General John Rau said on Tuesday new laws allowing juveniles to be sentenced as adults should be in force in time to deal with those responsible for the horrific crash. Adults convicted of manslaughter face life in jail.
How the tragedy unfolded
■ A white Mitsubishi Pajero was stolen from a Grange address.
■ The car was used at a break-in at a house in Brahma Lodge in the early hours of Sunday morning, where it is believed a Black Mazda 3 was stolen.
■ Police spotted the Mitsubishi and Mazda speeding in convoy through Marden shortly before 6.30am. There was a short pursuit that was terminated almost immediately because of the dangerous driving of the two stolen vehicles. The cars were travelling at 110km/h.
■ At about 6.37am the Mitsubishi is believed to have driven at high speed along McIntyre Rd through a red light at the intersection of Main North Rd.
■ The black Mazda was found dumped at Paralowie late Sunday morning.
■ Police attended a Paralowie address and arrested an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, both from Paralowie, and a 17-year-old boy from Davoren Park. They were later released without charge.
1 — The Mitsubishi, going through a red light, collided with a red Nissan Micra, crushing the driver’s side of the vehicle. The cars then knocked over traffic signals before coming to rest along Main North Rd.
2 — The driver of the Micra, a 40-year-old woman from Mawson Lakes, was killed in the crash.
3 — The occupants of the Mitsubishi immediately left the vehicle, and got into the Mazda before leaving the scene. They did not check on the condition of the woman in the Micra.
Victims of out-of-control hoons
NICOLE TUCKER
The mother of two, 48, was killed when her car was hit by a stolen ute in which teenagers had led police on a pursuit while travelling at 160km/h along the Southern Expressway at Bedford Park in October last year. The ute was driven by a boy, then 15, who pleaded guilty to killing Mrs Tucker by dangerous driving. He was already on bail and serving a suspended sentence. He could be released from custody by the end of the year.
ETHEL BOYCE
A driver in a high-speed chase crashed into another vehicle, killing Ethel Boyce in October last year at the intersection of Philip Highway and Blake Rd. Ms Boyce, 74, was returning home from a church meeting at the time of the smash at Elizabeth South. Timothy Wagner, 23, of Elizabeth South, was arrested over the crash and charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unlicensed. Wagner has yet to plead to his charges.
SOUTHERN EXPRESSWAY HOONS
Teenagers in a stolen luxury car that led police on a high-speed chase knew the driver injured by a horror freeway crash and left him behind. On December 5, 2015, three boys and two girls in a stolen $114,000 Mercedes led police on a chase during which another car, a white Barina, crashed on the Southern Expressway. The driver of that car remains in hospital in a coma, with part of his skull embedded in his brain. The group received various detention orders.