Wayne Wilmot to be freed ‘within weeks’ under strict conditions

Wayne Wilmot, who was involved in the brutal 1980s abduction, rape and murder of Janine Balding, will be freed from custody with assistance from the NDIS before the end of June.

Carol Anne Arrow right & Wayne Wilmot left, at Campbelltown Local Court in Sydney, 1988, where they were both charged with five counts relating to Janine Balding's death.

One of Australia’s most horrific serial sex offenders will be freed from custody within weeks with assistance from the NDIS, ahead of a single-day hearing to settle outstanding issues regarding his release.

Wayne Wilmot, who was involved in the brutal 1980s abduction, rape and murder of Janine Balding, will be freed under tight supervision and electronic monitoring ahead of a June 28 hearing on an extended supervision order sought by the state.

The Australian earlier this week revealed Wilmot, a remorseless criminal with psychopathic traits who poses a “significant risk” of carrying out further attacks on women, would be released under an interim extended supervision order with assistance from the NDIS.

That assistance – which includes eight hours of help each week with daily life, 16 hours of weekly assistance with “economic and community participation” and access to behaviour and health support professionals – comes despite past treatment and rehabilitation efforts in prison that had resulted in “no meaningful gains’’ because Wilmot, had been resistant to help.

A NSW Supreme Court hearing on Thursday learned parties involved in the case will be required to file material by April 15, ahead of the June 28 hearing on the extended supervision order.

Wilmot’s barrister, Dev Bhutani, indicated he would be released from custody before that hearing date rolls around. A past application to the court indicated the state would seek for Wilmot to be supervised for five years.

The exact date of Wilmot’s release and the location of where he will live cannot be reported due to a court order.

Arrow and Wilmot being escorted to court.

At age 15, Wilmot was involved with four others in the abduction of Balding. While the court found he did not take part in her ­murder, he was convicted of ­kidnapping and raping the 20-year-old bank teller, who was snatched outside a Sydney railway station in 1988 in a crime that stained the nation. (The prosecution did not allege Wilmot raped her, but he was held liable due to his participation in the criminal enterprise.)

Wilmot was released on parole in 1996 but attacked another four women before he was imprisoned again in 1998. In a prior judgment, Justice Julia Lonergan noted that the attacks were brazen and in public. “He does not seem to care about being caught,” Justice Lonergan said.

“The attacks are highly distressing and degrading and cause long-term harm to victims.”

Since his sentences expired in 2019, Wilmot has twice been subject to ongoing detention until the case came back to court this month and the state of NSW applied for an interim extended supervision order, which was granted.

This means he can be freed from custody when his current detention order expires, subject to a long list of restrictions over his movements, activities and internet use.