‘Best news I’ve had all year’: Michael Anthony Guider dies in jail

Serial child abuser Michael Anthony Guider, who kidnapped, drugged and killed nine-year-old Sydney schoolgirl Samantha Knight, has died in jail, aged 73.

The man who kidnapped, drugged and killed Sydney schoolgirl Samantha Knight has died in custody.

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said 73-year-old Michael Anthony Guider died at 7.25am on Saturday at the Prince of Wales Hospital.

As a matter of protocol, Corrective Services NSW and NSW Police investigate all deaths in custody, regardless of the circumstances, the spokeswoman said.

Guider, a serial child abuser who spent nine years behind bars for the manslaughter of Sydney primary school student Samantha, was released from prison in 2019 under a strict extended supervision order, designed to monitor and track the movements of high risk offenders in the community.

As part of the order, Guider was banned from purchasing, possessing, accessing, viewing or listening to any X-rated material — a condition police allege he broke by downloading the pornographic material.

Samantha Knight was just nine years old when Michael Anthony Guider kidnapped, drugged and killed her.

Then in September 2022 Guider was back behind bars after police allegedly discovered a cache of pornography and child abuse material on his mobile phone during a routine inspection at his Fairfield Heights home.

Police alleged that Guider searched for images that depict children” and “accessed and viewed material classified as X18+” over a seven-month period. Correctives confirmed to the Sunday Telegraph on Saturday that Guider has been behind bars ever since.

Michael Guider killed nine-year-old Sydney girl Samantha Knight.

One of the survivors of Guider’s abuse, Chantelle Daly, told The Daily Telegraph at the time that hearing her abuser was locked up again was “the best news I’ve had all year”, but it came after three harrowing years of living in fear.

“He’s back where he should be, he should never have gotten out and I’m not surprised to hear (these allegations),” Ms Daly said.

“I’m glad he wasn’t able to take it any further or hurt anyone else — because they always escalate.

“Leopards don’t change their spots.”

Guider was released from Long Bay jail in 2019, but returned after breaching conditions of his extended supervision order. Picture: Toby Zerna

Guider victim Chantelle Daly says news of Guider’s death was the ‘best news’ she had heard all year. Picture: AAP

Ms Daly has long campaigned to have Guider and the worst pedophiles locked away indefinitely, saying child abuse offenders “give up their rights to freedom” when they prey on children.

“They don’t get a big enough consequence, most don’t get jail time,” she said.

“It’s not surprising they go on to reoffend, they can’t help themselves and the repercussions aren’t bad enough. No second chances.”

Ms Daly said there was just one question she wanted answered from the judges, magistrates, lawyers and politicians who allow severe, reoffending pedophiles to return to the community.

“All that grief we went through when he was released, three years of fear, years of PTSD, was all that suffering worth it for him to get his rights?” she asked.

“He’s back in, it was a waste of time none of us needed, we’d been through enough.”

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