Melissa Clancy, Madison Butler charged with murder after teen’s body left on Palmerston driveway

Mother and daughter have been charged after a Palmerston teenager was allegedly bashed to death and left on a driveway.

The crime scene in Driver, Palmerston after a body was found on a driveway. Picture: Annabel Bowles

A mother and daughter allegedly brutalised a teenager and left him for dead on a Palmerston driveway, a court has heard.

Melissa Jane Clancy, 37, and Madison Butler, 18, appeared for the first time in Darwin Local Court on Tuesday, charged with murder.

Police allege the two women were involved in the fatal assault of an 18-year-old man in the early hours of Saturday, October 8.

The young man’s body was found at sunrise on a driveway outside a vacant Driver home.

Police alleged the young victim from Driver was brutalised in his own neighbourhood and suffered significant head trauma.

Detectives have established a six-hour window from midnight until 6.30am during which the alleged murder occurred.

Clancy and Butler were arrested on Monday, a week after their co-accused Dechlan Wurramarra, 20, and a 17-year-old boy were charged.

On Tuesday, Judge John Neill told the deceased’s loved ones that he understood the “great seriousness” of their loss and the case before him.

Melissa Jane Clancy, 37, was charged with murder after an 18-year-old man's body was found outside a vacant home at Driver, Palmerston on October 8.

His family and friends spent five hours waiting in the local court to lay eyes on the 18-year-old’s alleged killers.

Clancy’s lawyer Hugo Atkinson made an application for bail for the 37-year-old mother.

“She has lived a difficult life, struggling with her addiction issues,” Mr Atkinson said.

“Those issues arise in the Darwin area.”

Mr Atkinson said his client wanted a “quiet life on strict bail conditions” in a community away from Darwin.

Mr Neill said it had been alleged the 37-year-old and her young co-accused lived in a rough environment.

The crime scene in Driver, Palmerston after a body was found on a driveway. Picture: Annabel Bowles

“(They) are drug dependent people who live in a demi-monde of drug usage and drug acquisition,” he said.

Mr Neill raised concerns over her nine-page criminal history, which included breaches of suspended sentences, failures to appear in court and breaches of bail.

Judge Neill said he had 11 witness statements and a lengthy police summary, but added “the Crown case is not strong …(but) I can equally say it is not weak”.

Prosecutor Lajita Allan-Agnew said there was CCTV footage from multiple cameras, which had captured the alleged incident across multiple locations.

Mr Neill said he was concerned about the risks of Clancy contacting her co-accused, particularly as they included her daughter and her friends.

Dechlan Wurramarra appeared in Darwin Local Court on Tuesday charged with murder. Picture: Supplied/Facebook

Ms Allan-Agnew said Clancy also posed a flight-risk if granted bail.

“Electronic monitoring, curfews, sureties. These are of very little assistance once contamination of witnesses (and) once someone has taken flight,” she said.

Clancy sniffled and wiped away tears as Mr Neill formally denied her bail application.

The 37-year-old will return to Darwin Local Court on Wednesday December 14, for a preliminary examination mention.

Her daughter, Madison Butler, appeared before a different judge for her first mention.

The 18-year-old murder accused will return to court later this week for a bail application.

Butler has also been charged with obtaining benefit by deception.