When Australia’s youngest murderer who slaughtered little girl could be released from jail

A man, who at 13 became Australia’s youngest convicted murderer, has been told he will find out next year when he could be released from prison.

Australia’s youngest convicted murder will not be released before Christmas but could be freed in the new year, a court has been told.

The man was 13 years old when he murdered toddler Courtney Morley-Clarke on the NSW Central Coast in January 2001 by pulling her from her bed in the middle of the night, stabbing her through the heart and leaving her body in long grass.

He was caught after it was noticed that he had gone missing from his own home on the morning the three-year-old was taken.

He initially lied that he had gone for a walk and was playing with his pet duck in the middle of the night, before returning at about 2.45am.

He led police, who were frantically searching for the young girl, on a wild-goose chase before admitting he killed her and taking them to a stretch of the street where officers found a pool of blood and a steak knife.

The three-year-old’s body was discovered nearby.

The man, now 37, was released in 2023 after spending more than 20 years in jail.

Courtney Morley-Clarke was three when she was abducted from her bed and killed by SLD.

But just a month after being freed from prison, he was rearrested for breaching the terms of his release when he spoke to a woman with a child at Bulli Beach.

He was found guilty of one count of failing to comply with an extended supervision order, which barred him from having contact with children.

He was also acquitted of another two counts of failing to comply with a supervision order.

Judge William Fitzsimmons sentenced the man - who can only be known as SLD - to one and a half years in prison.

He was due to be released this week after serving a one-year and one-month non-parole period.

However the state applied to the NSW Supreme Court for a continuing detention application to keep him in jail.

Justice Peter Garling imposed an interim detention order, which was set to expire on Wednesday.

And on Tuesday, his lawyers appeared in the Supreme Court where they fought against the state’s attempt to keep him in jail.

Lawyers for the man appeared in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday to oppose a move to keep him in custody. Picture: NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi.

During a hearing on Tuesday, the state raised his expressions of anger directed at the person who reported him for breaching his release order which resulted in him being taken back to prison.

The state’s barrister Gillian Mahony said he expressed a: “visceral anger against the person who made the complaint to the police which led to the breach of the ESO.”

She also said he had never revealed his motivation for killing the three-year-old, until recent statements to a psychiatrist.

His barrister, Dev Bhutani, argued that he could be safely reintegrated back into the community and monitored safely under a supervision order.

The court heard he is still bound by the extended supervision order made by the Supreme Court last year, which will apply upon his release.

Following a brief hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, Justice Mark Ierace did not make orders on whether SLD would continue to be held in prison.

He instead ordered that SLD’s interim detention order be extended, meaning he will remain in custody for another 28 days.

The matter will return in the new year, with Justice Ierace to make a ruling on whether he will be kept in custody under a continuing detention order or whether he will be released.

He also ordered that two psychologists or psychiatrists be appointed to conduct independent examinations of SLD.