Juliet Marie Oldroyd pleads guilty to kidnapping Grace, helping Laura Hinks go on run for 13 days
A conspiracy theorist convinced a Darwin mum to kidnap her own child and go on the run – telling police she was an ‘international child advocate’, a ‘whistleblower’, and claiming ‘diplomatic immunity’.
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A conspiracy theorist texted a Darwin mother “are you feeling bold” moments before they snatched a five-year-old girl from her father’s arms before vanishing into the Territory outback for 13 days.
On Friday Juliet Marie Oldroyd appeared via a video link into Darwin Supreme Court, the 53-year-old laying on her bed at home was only able to utter a single word: “guilty”.
It comes almost three years after Oldroyd and Darwin mother Laura Hinks kidnapped five-year-old Grace from a supervised visit at the Berrimah CatholicCare centre on August 7, 2022, sparking a nationwide missing persons search.
The 53-year-old’s plea to a single charge of kidnapping a child comes seven months after Hinks was found guilty of abducting her daughter and attempting to take away her son following a four day trial in November.
The Supreme Court jury found that it was not “reasonable” or “defensive conduct” for the 34-year-old to take her children from the supervised visit.
The trial heard the 34-year-old mum became connected to Oldroyd after convincing herself there were welfare concerns for her son and daughter while in the care of their father.
Hinks repeatedly reported allegations to NT Police for eight months — however an investigation completely cleared him of any wrongdoing.
After feeling like ‘every door was slamming in her face’, Hinks found Oldroyd who promised to be her “advocate” who she said first suggested “just taking the children”.
On Friday Prosecutor Ian Read said Oldroyd was even sending words of encouragement to Hinks in the moments before the kidnapping.
“Are you feeling bold?” the conspiracy theorist texted.
“Do you believe that we can do all things through Christ? Do you know what Christ wants us to do?”
The Darwin mother said she was unsure, texting “I don’t know if I should”, to which Oldroyd simply replied: “Do you trust me?”.
Mr Read said CCTV footage then captured the two women leading five-year-old Grace and her 11-year-old brother out of the centre before the chaos broke out.
He said they ignored directions from CatholicCare staff to leave the children, with Oldroyd having an “altercation” with their father as he tried to stop them from being bundled into a stranger’s car.
His 11-year-old son, who has autism, became dysregulated, and managed to fight off attempts to take him away.
Hinks and her daughter were taken to a Nakara home before being driven to a remote cattle station in the Douglas Daly region.
Mr Read said while the search continued for the mother and child, Oldroyd made admissions to police that she was involved in the kidnapping — but refused to disclose where they were.
During Hinks’ trial the jury watched Oldroyd’s recorded police interview, where she proclaimed to be a “international child advocate” and a “whistleblower”, claiming “diplomatic immunity” from any charges.
Oldroyd refused to disclose where the missing mother and child were, telling police she believed the young girl would be “killed” if she was found.
“I’m here because I’m whistleblowing on systematic corruption in this government and system, and I want you to take me into protective custody because I don’t feel safe,” Ms Oldroyd said.
“I want you to protect me from them … someone could walk in this door right now and shoot me to shut me up.”
Following Oldroyd’s arrest, Hinks surrendered herself to police and Grace was recovered safe and well.
Oldroyd’s court hearing has been repeatedly delayed over concerns over her fitness to plead and lack of ‘orthodox’ legal representation.
Mr Read requested that the 53-year-old should meet with a local psychiatrist and Corrections staff in person ahead of her sentencing hearing on August 26.
“It is in her interest if she is suffering from some really uncertain diagnosis at the moment, that she gets appropriate treatment,” he said.
Her defence lawyer Peter Fam and Chief Justice Michael Grant also agreed it would be best for a pre-sentence report to assess any mental health concerns.
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Originally published as Juliet Marie Oldroyd pleads guilty to kidnapping Grace, helping Laura Hinks go on run for 13 days
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