Australia’s youngest murderer hit with interim detention order ahead of psychiatric assessments

Australia’s youngest murderer will be kept behind bars for at least a further 28 days after a judge in NSW’s highest court ruled he undergo two independent psychiatric assessments before it can be determined if he can reintegrate into society.

SLD faced a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Australia’s youngest murderer will be kept behind bars for at least a further 28 days after a judge in NSW’s highest court ruled he undergo two independent psychiatric assessments before it can be determined if he can reintegrate into society.

Justice Mark Ierace made the ruling in the Supreme Court on Tuesday after Central Coast child killer SLD had two major wins in court in the preceding fortnight.

SLD, now 37, was just 13 when he murdered three-year-old Courtney Morley-Clarke at Point Clare in 2001. The callous killer snatched Courtney from her bed in her family’s home before stabbing her through the chest and discarding her lifeless body down a grassy ditch.

The killer spent more than two decades behind bars before being released in 2023 on a NSW Supreme Court-imposed extended supervision order (ESO) which at the time fewer than 200 of the state’s most high-risk violence, sex and terrorism offenders were subjected to.

Within weeks of being released he was charged with three counts of breaching the ESO – specifically relating to a clause about not associating with children.

Courtney Morley-Clarke was just three when she was murdered.

In a judge-alone trial earlier this year he was found guilty of one of the charges where he approached a woman showering sand off her infant before asking questions about the minor.

On Monday, Judge William Fitzsimmons sentenced SLD to a head sentence of 18 months behind bars with a non-parole period of 13 months. This meant with time already served he was eligible for parole last month, however, he was held in custody awaiting the outcome of Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing.

SLD (under a towel) with police after the murder of Courtney Morley-Clarke in 2001.

While in custody for the offence at Bulli Beach, SLD was charged with intimidating a law officer and intimidating a law officer’s relative after he became “fixated” on the off-duty Corrective Services NSW officer who reported him to police for the charges which were the subject of the trial.

The charge came after recorded prison calls between SLD and a Corrective Services department supervising officer (DSO) where he threatened to “kill the f--ker” along with a myriad of other remarks which Magistrate Michael Love said was of “significant concern”.

SLD was found not guilty of both charges after a hearing at Wollongong Local Court in October as Mr Love ruled the prosecution could not prove key elements of the case despite the killer showing his “propensity for extreme violence”.

In court on Tuesday, barrister Gillian Mahony, acting on behalf of the state, applied for an interim detention order (IDO) to allow time for SLD to be assessed by two independent psychiatrists ahead of a likely continuing detention order (CDO) application.

Defence barrister Dev Bhutani opposed the IDO, submitting the assessments could be conducted while SLD was out of custody and under the “strict” ESO which he will be subjected to until at least 2029.

During submissions, Ms Mahony said there was a “risk of seeking and wanting to exact revenge on someone who has slighted him”, while also noting “historically we know he is capable of causing death”.

Ms Mahony also detailed some of his offending while serving his murder sentence including choking a nurse and slashing a Corrective Services officer who was serving him lunch with a razor blade. The court heard the officer required 22 stitches in the “random” attack.

Ms Mahony submitted there was an abundance of evidence indicating SLD was “unable or unwilling” to comply with any court-imposed orders, though Mr Bhutani later said there was “no expert opinion before the court” which supported the making of a CDO and therefore the IDO should not be granted.

Justice Ierace concluded SLD should be held under a 28-day IDO from Wednesday during which time he will be assessed by two independent psychiatric experts. He also recommended a report be prepared by SLD’s long-term psychologist Richard Parker.

The case will return to court in January.

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