Attorney-General (SA) v WOODS-PEARCE

The case of Attorney-General (SA) v Woods-Pearce concerned an application by the Attorney-General for an Extended Supervision Order against the respondent, who had been convicted of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated causing harm, and rape. The application was made shortly before the respondent’s release from prison, with the Attorney-General also seeking an Interim Supervision Order. The respondent opposed the application, arguing that he was a youth at the time of his offending and therefore excluded from the operation of the Criminal Law (High Risk Offenders) Act 2015 (SA). The court had to decide whether the respondent, having been a youth at the time of his offending, was excluded from the operation of the Act and therefore ineligible for an Extended Supervision Order.

The court considered the relevant provisions of the High Risk Offenders Act and the reasoning of Justice Lovell in a previous case, Smith. The Attorney-General argued that there was a sound basis to depart from the reasoning in Smith, but the court found the reasoning in that case persuasive. It concluded that the respondent was a youth when he was convicted of the offences, which met the definition of ‘serious sexual offences’ and ‘serious violence offences’, and accordingly s 6(1) of the High Risk Offenders Act removed the respondent from its operation. The court dismissed the application for an Extended Supervision Order.

The court ordered that the respondent was a youth when he was convicted of the relevant offences and, accordingly, s 6(1) of the High Risk Offenders Act removes the respondent from its operation. The application for an Extended Supervision Order was dismissed.