Terence Darrell Kelly ‘threatened’ journalist during court appearance over alleged abduction of Cleo Smith

The man charged with abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith has allegedly ‘threatened’ a journalist in court.

“I’m coming for you.”

Those were the words allegedly uttered by Terence Darrell Kelly to a journalist as he faced court over the alleged abduction of Cleo Smith.

Mr Kelly, 36, was barefoot and wearing a black T-shirt when he faced Carnarvon Magistrates Court late on Thursday charged with two offences, including one count of forcibly taking a child aged under 16.

“He did point threateningly at several members of the media ... and had a few choice words for me said in open court,” 7 News journalist Joseph Catanzaro said.

Mr Kelly allegedly looked directly at the reporter, then said: “I’m going to get out of here one day. I’m coming for you.”

But Mr Catanzaro did not seem bothered by Mr Kelly’s words.

“All I can say is I’m looking forward to that one-on-one interview,” he quipped.

The first image of the man arrested and later charged over the alleged abduction of Cleo Smith. Picture: Supplied by Simon Hydzik/7 News

According to The Australian, Mr Kelly made other outbursts during the hearing, including asking the magistrate: “What the f--k are the media doing here?”

The magistrate replied: “It’s an open court.”

Mr Kelly was remanded in custody to face court again via video link on December 6.

Cleo was allegedly taken from the family tent while camping at Quobba Blowholes on October 16 and was rescued from a house in nearby Carnarvon just before 1am on Wednesday when detectives barged into the property.

Mr Kelly was brought into custody on Tuesday and questioned for hours before police released a statement late on Thursday, saying he had been charged with “various offences”.

“Given this matter is now before the court, police are unable to make any further comment on the charges at this stage,” police said.

Mr Kelly will soon be transported to a Perth prison and will be heavily guarded during the process.

Footage has emerged of the moment Terence Darrell Kelly was arrested over the alleged abduction of Cleo Smith.

Grainy dashcam footage from a taxi shows Mr Kelly’s dramatic arrest on Robinson St in Carnarvon just before 11.30pm on Tuesday.

Shocked onlookers observed the arrest, which was not far from Mr Kelly’s house.

“It was like a high-speed chase first, there was one car and then police cars,” Deane Mitchell told 7 News.

“(I thought) something’s going on, that’s not right.”

Female relatives were reportedly inside the car with Mr Kelly and he told officers he did not know what they were talking about when questioned about Cleo.

Another witness said police were “chasing” Mr Kelly.

“The cops were chasing that car initially and they were all surrounding that car,” he said.

“We saw one of the detectives on top of the guy, pinning him down on the kerb ... rigorously.”

Social media posts have revealed photos of Mr Kelly holding two Bratz toy dolls, while another picture shows a room full of toy dolls.

A photo on social media shows Terence Darrell Kelly holding Bratz dolls.

Social media pictures of Terence Kelly’s doll collection. Picture: Facebook

Earlier on Thursday, lead investigator Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde told reporters the accused man had allegedly harmed himself twice, which had resulted in two trips to hospital.

Asked if Mr Kelly was the driver of a car seen about 3am on the night Cleo vanished, Superintendent Wilde said: “That hasn’t been confirmed as yet, but certainly we would say that that car was significant and it was in the right time frame.”

Superintendent Wilde described the probe as a “very quick-moving investigation”, with the man only becoming a suspect late on Tuesday afternoon.

“He was arrested not long after that,” he said.

During an earlier radio interview on Thursday, Superintendent Rod Wilde rubbished rumours that Mr Kelly was bashed by a cellmate.

“No, that’s not true. My understanding is that the man in custody self-harmed,” he told 6PR radio.

“Obviously, in modern police stations there’s CCTV in all the cells.”

Cleo Smith with mother Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon on Thursday in Carnarvon. Picture: Colin Murty

Police outside the home of the accused man. Picture: Tamati Smith/Getty Images

Superintendent Wilde said Cleo was “physically fine” after her alleged abduction, but police still needed to establish what happened during the 18 days she was missing, describing it as a “traumatic event”.

“Obviously, there’s a process to go through with our child specialist interviewers that are here now,” he said.

“Depending on how she is ... we intend to start that (part of the investigation) today.”

Superintendent Wilde said it was unhelpful for people to “speculate” and share “wild theories” about the case online.

“There’s been a lot of it through this investigation. It’s unhelpful, we see that it’s untrue, it only damages people,” he said.

“We’ve got a legal process that we’ll need to go through — that’s where the facts will come forward.

“Everyone please keep those theories to yourself and don’t go sticking them on social media — it’s very unhelpful.”

The detective also confirmed that when Police Commissioner Chris Dawson and other officers walked into the local pub in Carnarvon on Wednesday night, they got a standing ovation.

Cleo was seen holding a pink balloon. Picture: Colin Murty

When detectives found Cleo, she was playing with toys in a room with the lights on.

A smiling Cleo was photographed on Thursday outside the family home wearing a pink floral dress and carrying a pink balloon while being carried by her mother, Ellie Smith.

Child trauma experts have been working with the family and it is understood they have begun questioning Cleo about her ordeal.

Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine, who saved Cleo, told reporters her parents had co-operated with police throughout the investigation.

“They know what they need to know,” he said.

The detective also confirmed Cleo’s parents had to be careful what they said to her before she was interviewed.

“We’ve given them advice around that and that must be incredibly hard for them, so we certainly appreciate their assistance and co-operation with that,” he said.

Cleo Smith pictured in hospital after she was found by police. Picture: WA Police

Premier Mark McGowan met with Cleo and her family, describing the young girl as upbeat, sweet and bubbly.

“Cleo was a delightful little girl who was playing in the backyard and I gave her the two teddies, which we named,” he told reporters.

“It was a lovely experience to meet her. She was, I thought, very well adjusted considering, and the family were very appreciative of everything that has been done for them.

“They’re ... fundamentally decent, honest human beings ... they’re really lovely people and it’s great to meet them and acknowledge what they’ve been through.

“Obviously, there’ll be a way to go from here but they’re certainly on the right pathway.”

WA Deputy Police Commissioner Col Blanch said while the $1m reward offered by the WA government was unlikely to be claimed given Cleo was found following solid police work rather than a specific tip-off, he did not want to rule out the possibility.

“The police collected so much information from day one for those 18 days that they were able to trawl through and put that jigsaw puzzle together,” he told Sunrise on the Seven Network.

“Part of that jigsaw puzzle was information from the community.

“We’re not going to discount that it’s not going to be paid out but ... really, it was good, hard detective and intelligence analyst work.

“It was literally a needle in a data haystack.”

A screen grab from footage of the moment police rescued Cleo Smith from a Carnarvon home, 18 days after they say she was taken from her family’s tent. Picture: WA Police

In video footage released by police of Cleo’s rescue, her hair appeared neat and clean.

“Her physical well being seemed OK,” Mr Blanch said.

“But there’s a lot of work to be done with a child of such a young age to understand what they’ve been through.”

Mr Blanch said Cleo would have suffered some trauma being away from her family for 18 days.

Meanwhile, Ms Smith, who posted on social media throughout the search in a bid to encourage people to come forward with information, has now made her Instagram and Facebook pages private.

She and Cleo’s stepfather Jake Gliddon were subjected to online abuse from people accusing them of being involved in their daughter’s disappearance despite police consistently saying they were not suspects.

Mr Blanch said he did not want people to be afraid of camping in WA, which was a popular activity in the state.

“We have to give that public reassurance ... that fear can probably now go away,” he said.