23yo arrested over Alice Springs kidnapping which ended in Coober Pedy gets bail in court

An accused kidnapper has been ordered to leave Alice Springs – but not before he had to pay thousands for the privilege of doing so. Find out why.

Alice Springs Local Court. Picture: Gera Kazakov

A judge has granted bail to a 23-year-old man accused of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy out of Alice Springs – but not before making him pay thousands.

The man was granted bail in the Alice Springs Local Court by Judge Anthony Hopkins, who ordered he not return to Alice Springs except for in the case of a medical emergency or for his next court appearance.

As the matter involves a youth, the man cannot legally be named.

He was charged in relation to the alleged kidnapping of a 12-year-old boy from an Alice Springs school in February.

The man and the boy were located by police in Coober Pedy – 687km south of Alice Springs – a day after the boy was reported missing, where the 23-year-old was arrested.

Coober Pedy, South Australia

He was later extradited to the NT to face a charge of abducting a child under 16 years old and had his first mention in court on March 7.

Police prosecutor Kolisi Masani opposed bail, due to concerns around the “allegation of taking a child out of the school who’s under the care of the department to another state”.

“In terms of evidence police have a very strong case,” he said.

The man’s defence lawyer, Harvie Stiller, presented two plans for bail: one which would see the accused reside in Alice Springs, the other in Adelaide.

Mr Masani said the Adelaide plan was “the more appropriate one,” with Mr Stiller telling the court his client would be willing to sell his own cars to have the funds for his own regonsinance as well as enough for a cash surety.

Mr Stiller indicated his client would enter a plea at his next hearing, and said the cash surety as well as a $5k recognisance “could give the court some comfort as to (the 23-year-old) appearing at court”.

While Mr Mosani said the man’s charge carried up to seven years in prison, Mr Stiller said instead his client should get an “intensive community corrections orders” or “at the highest a suspended sentence”.

Alice Springs town centre. The 23-year-old man is not allowed back into Alice Springs unless for he’s having a medical emergency or heading to court. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“Basically the circumstances are that for a period of at least three months (the 23-year-old) was acting as the primary carer for this young person – that was in an unofficial but certainly known and verbalised mutual arrangement with the boy’s mother,” Mr Stiller told the court.

This arrangement came to an end in February, days before the alleged kidnapping, Mr Stiller told the court, and the situation deteriorated.

“The mother – this is on my instructions – had wanted to resume being the primary carer, and the child didn’t want that and (the 23-year-old) had some quite serious concerns about his safety,” he said.

“So we say it’s not a cut and dry instance where someone has gone and maliciously abducted a child – it’s much more nuanced than that.”

Judge Hopkins granted the man bail to reside in Adelaide, ordered he pay a $2k surety and a $5k recognisance, and ordered he leave Alice Springs by 5pm on March 7.

He was also ordered to not contact the boy or the mother and stay away from a school in Alice Springs.

His matter will return to court April 22.