Kingsley Alley Jr murder accused Madison Butler’s silk to cross examine witnesses in case

Defence lawyer Jacob Henderson said a prominent Adelaide silk had been briefed to cross examine three witnesses at a committal hearing later this year.

Madison Butler, 18, will now be represented by Adelaide silk Scott Henchliffe KC.

One of three people charged with the murder of Palmerston teenager Kingsley Alley Jr has retained a top interstate silk to cross examine witnesses in the case, a court has heard.

Madison Butler, 18, returned to the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday where she stands charged alongside her mother Melissa Jane Clancy and two other people with Mr Alley’s murder.

Defence lawyer Jacob Henderson said the NT Legal Aid Commission had secured the services of a prominent Adelaide barrister to cross examine three witnesses at a committal hearing at a date to be fixed.

“Scott Henchliffe KC is briefed in this matter, he works out of Adelaide in South Australia and he has limited availability so I’m hopeful that we can get a date that suits him,” he said.

In adjourning the hearing for a week, Judge Therese Austin said prosecutors had consented to the three witnesses being cross examined before the court considered whether the case would proceed to the Supreme Court.

“Thank you Ms Butler for coming to court, your lawyer Mr Henderson does want to have a preliminary oral examination of some witnesses in your case,” she said.

“Unfortunately I can’t do that right now, it will require some discussion with the listings area about when that date will happen but I’ll bring your case back to this court next week.

“Hopefully our listing section will have spoken to your lawyer and the Crown about a suitable date and time for that examination to occur and it can be listed next week.

“When that hearing happens you’ll be brought in from the prison to the court so you’ll be present during any examination of witnesses.”

Relatives of Kingsley Alley Jr outside court last year.

Mr Alley’s body was found at sunrise on October 8 last year in the driveway of a vacant home near the corner of Waterhouse Crescent and Driver Ave in Driver.

Police have alleged Butler, Clancy, 20-year-old Dechlan Wurramarra and a 17-year-old boy fatally assaulted the young father in the early hours of the morning.

After a previous court appearance in October, his stepmother Kylie Simmonds told this publication the family was “waiting for justice”.

Ms Simmonds had waited more than five hours to see Clancy appear in court.

“It was intense and difficult but I felt lighter when I left,” she said.