Inmate Robert Gordon Rigney, who was twice turned away from jail, sentenced for remaining at large
AN inmate who impulsively chose to remain at large and care for his grieving family after authorities twice refused to readmit him to prison has been sentenced to time served.
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AN inmate who impulsively chose to remain at large and care for his grieving family after authorities twice refused to readmit him to prison has been sentenced to time served.
On Tuesday, the District Court declined to further penalise Robert Gordon Rigney over an incident that left both SA Police and the Department for Correctional Services red-faced.
Judge Rauf Soulio said Rigney, granted bail to leave prison and attend the funeral of his slain sister, niece and nephew, had repeatedly tried to “do the right thing” as required.
He said that, having been turned away by Yatala Labour Prison staff and police officers, Rigney made a “poor” decision rooted in “frustration, angst” and “overwhelming grief”.
“There is a cultural expectation that you would spend an extensive period of time with your family after deaths,” he said.
“This was an impulsive act referable to your fragile state of mind ... I have regard to the grief you were experiencing at the time.”
In July last year, Rigney, 34, was granted four days’ release to attend the funerals of Adeline Yvette Rigney-Wilson and her children Amber Rose Rigney, 6, and Korey Lee Mitchell, 5.
The trio were killed at Hillier in May 2016 and Ms Rigney-Wilson’s former partner, Steven Graham Peet, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder.
Initially, SA Police and the Department for Correctional Services claimed Rigney had gone on the run — an assertion shot down by the District Court.
When prosecutors sought to charge Rigney, in his absence, with breaching bail, Judge Soulio said he had been told the inmate tried to return and surrender — twice.
He questioned the appropriateness of the charge, given Rigney had been turned away at both Yatala and a police station, where he asked to be taken back into custody.
The revelation prompted an inquiry, and ministerial criticism of the Department, while Rigney remained at large for the next 76 days.
He was arrested without incident — in the roof cavity of a Forestville house — in September and, in December, pleaded guilty to remaining unlawfully at large.
On Tuesday, Judge Soulio said Rigney had returned to Yatala “wearing prison uniform” but staff “refused” to let him in and he could not “persuade” them otherwise.
He said Rigney contacted his lawyer, who spoke to prosecutors, and on their suggestion went to the Holden Hill Police Station.
“The desk sergeant apparently said he didn’t have the required authority to detain you,” he said.
Judge Soulio said Rigney was advised to spend the weekend at his home detention address and surrender at court the following Monday, but chose instead to flee.
“You have told me you accept full responsibility for your actions and said you don’t wish to make excuses for yourself,” he said.
“You emphasise you attempted to do the right thing on two separate occasions, and that your main motivation was to spend time with your family after a highly emotional period.”
He jailed Rigney for three months, backdated to July last year, noting the sentence had already been served.
Rigney remains in custody on unrelated matters.