Clifford Warrior, brother of Charlene, sentenced after brazen North Adelaide home invasion

A man who broke into a North Adelaide home, assaulted the owner and stole his SUV for a high-speed getaway has offered a bizarre explanation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains images and voices of people who have died.

A western suburbs man has been jailed after a court heard he blamed a methed-up North Adelaide home invasion on “police in the trees”.

Clifford Allan Wayne Warrior, 38, was sentenced in the District Court last month after descending into rampant drug use following the sudden and mysterious death of his sister Charlene.

He had pleaded guilty to a raft of offences – namely aggravated serious criminal trespass, theft, drive at a dangerous speed, residential trespass and two counts of aggravated assault.

During a paranoid delusion, he broke into a North Adelaide home, assaulted the owner and stole his Mazda CX5 before speeding through suburban streets at up to 150km/h while high on meth, believing people were following him, the court heard.

Judge Anne Barnett acknowledged Warrior, of Taperoo, began using drugs as a “coping mechanism” after his sister’s death – and “ramped up” his use in the days prior to the offending.

Charlene Warrior died suddenly in 2019. Picture: Facebook

Warrior was sentenced last month. Picture: Facebook

“You believe that she was murdered, but the death was classified as a suicide,” Judge Barnett said.

“On the day of the offending, you were using methamphetamine and you were deluded as to the idea that people at your home were going to kill you, that the police were in the trees around you and that you were being followed. This is why you say you went into the house at North Adelaide.

“It is clear that the offending was characterised by your drug use and your lack of sleep at the time.”

Charlene was one of six Aboriginal women whose stories were investigated by The Advertiser in Dying Rose, a podcast in which their families question whether police properly responded to their deaths.

Charlene was found in a tree in plain sight in the small Yorke Peninsula town of Bute on October 3, 2019, just 100m from where she was last seen and in full view of the town’s search site.

Charlene, who was 21 when she died, had gone to Bute – about 90 minutes north of Adelaide – to pick up her one-year-old daughter from the home of her ex-partner when she vanished about eight days into the trip.

Clifford Warrior (middle) with other family members outside their Seaton home. Picture: Kathryn Bermingham

Last month, the court heard Warrior knew his offending was wrong – and that he felt “shame” towards himself because he “had no right to go into the victim’s house”.

“You recognise that the victims would have felt terrified as a result of your behaviour,” Judge Barnett said. “You’ve also written a letter of apology to the victims in which you say that nobody should have to feel unsafe in their own home and that you think about how you have made them feel every day.

“Your counsel has submitted that the combination of your mental health condition and your increased drug use created a constellation of factors which impaired your ability to make rational decisions and comprehend your actions.”

Warrior was jailed for three years and two months’ jail with a non-parole period of 20 months – backdated to May 25, 2024.

Originally published as Clifford Warrior, brother of Charlene, sentenced after brazen North Adelaide home invasion