State of New South Wales v JC (No 4)

[2017] NSWSC 1208

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

State of New South Wales v JC (No 4) [2017] NSWSC 1208

Hearing dates:

5 September 2017

Date of orders:

05 September 2017

Decision date:

08 September 2017

Jurisdiction:

Common Law

Before:

Lonergan J

Decision:

(1) Pursuant to s 18A of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006, the Defendant be detained under an interim detention order from Wednesday 6 September 2017 at 3:00 pm to Friday 29 September 2017 at 3:00 pm.

 

(2) Pursuant to s 20(1) of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006, the Court issue a warrant for the committal of the Defendant to a correctional centre for the duration of the interim order referred to in sub-paragraph 1 above.

 

(3)   I stand the Plaintiff’s Notice of Motion over to Tuesday 26 September 2017 at 10:00 am for hearing of any application for renewal of the interim detention order or any other order.

 

(4)   All evidence upon which the Plaintiff intends to rely in support of the orders it seeks on 26 September 2016 is to be served upon the solicitor for the Defendant by 5:00 pm on 20 September 2017.

 

(5)   The final hearing of the Plaintiff’s Summons and Notice of Motion is to be listed for hearing on 23 November 2017 for 2 days.

 

(6)   I note that the parties will reach an agreement today as to the identity of the experts to be retained to assess the Defendant in accordance with the orders made by Adamson J on 23 August 2017.

 (7)   In relation to Orders 1 and 2, I will publish written reasons for those orders on Friday 8 September 2017. Counsel are excused from attending.

Catchwords:

HIGH RISK OFFENDER – serious sex offender – application for interim detention order – earlier application granted – concessions by Defendant – order made

Legislation Cited:

Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) ss 18A, 20

Cases Cited:

State of New South Wales v JC (No 3) [2017] NSWSC 1181

Category:

Principal judgment

Parties:

State of New South Wales (Plaintiff)
JC (Defendant)

Representation:

Counsel:
I Fraser (Plaintiff)
A Cook (Defendant)

  Solicitors:
Crown Solicitors Office (Plaintiff)
Legal Aid (Defendant)

File Number(s):

2017/239984

Publication restriction:

Pursuant to an order of this court, the name of the Defendant is not to be published.

Judgment

1. I made orders on 1 September 2017 in relation to the Plaintiff’s notice of motion seeking orders, amongst others things, for interim detention of the Defendant from 1 September 2017 for a period of 28 days.

2. For reasons set out in that judgment, and in particular concessions made on behalf of the Defendant, I made an interim detention order (“IDO”) limited to a period of 5 days pending further consideration of the affidavit material in support of the Plaintiff’s application and to allow counsel for the Defendant to take further, more detailed instructions regarding the notice of motion generally. I published my reasons in State of New South Wales v JC (No 3) [2017] NSWSC 1181 on the morning of 5 September.

3. The matter was listed for further hearing and renewal of the IDO on that day. Having given the parties time to read the judgment and take further instructions, further evidence was tendered on the notice of motion as follows:

• An affidavit of Matthew Frize affirmed 5 September 2017 (on behalf of the Plaintiff);

• Transcripts of the hearings before Adamson J on 23 and 28 August 2017 (on behalf of the Defendant).

4. The affidavit of Mr Frize (Exhibit J) updates the position regarding enquiries about prospective accommodation for the Defendant. The affidavit deposes to the pursuit of enquiries regarding accommodation at Villawood and Nelson Bay. The conclusion reached by Mr Frize as a result of those further enquiries was that neither premises could offer accommodation for the Defendant at this time.

5. The transcripts of evidence before Justice Adamson consisted of examination and cross-examination of Ms Langdon, unit leader of the ESO team and examination and cross-examination of Assistant Commissioner Caruana.

6. There is nothing in the further material tendered that alters my opinion set out in my judgment State of New South Wales v JC (No 3) that the Defendant should be subject to an interim detention order (“IDO”) due to both the absence of suitable accommodation outside custody and the lack of current psychiatric assessment as to the risk the Defendant poses to the community if released from custody without 24-hour line of sight supervision.

7. I was informed by both counsel that agreement will be reached on 5 September 2017 regarding the identity of the psychiatrist and psychologist who will be assessing the Defendant for the purposes of the Plaintiff’s application for final orders, and that those reports will be available by 4 October 2017.

8. Counsel appearing for the Defendant confirmed her instructions to submit to a further IDO for a suitable time period given the non-availability of accommodation provided it was for a limited period and the next hearing date for the renewal was fixed to a date not later than 29 September 2017. Concessions were made in respect of the threshold questions associated with such an order.

9. It was agreed that the most practical way to proceed was to grant renewal of the IDO for a period of 23 days to expire at 3:00 pm on 29 September and fix a hearing date for further renewal of the IDO on 26 September 2017.

10. It was also agreed that fixing a final hearing date was necessary to ensure compliance with the time limits for IDOs set out in the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW).

11. Accordingly, a date for final hearing was fixed for 2 days commencing on 23 November 2017.

Orders

1. Pursuant to s 18A of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006, the Defendant be detained under an interim detention order from Wednesday 6 September 2017 at 3:00 pm to Friday 29 September 2017 at 3:00 pm.

2. Pursuant to s 20(1) of the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006, the Court issue a warrant for the committal of the Defendant to a correctional centre for the duration of the interim order referred to in sub-paragraph 1 above.

3. I stand the Plaintiff’s Notice of Motion over to Tuesday 26 September 2017 at 10:00 am for hearing of any application for renewal of the interim detention order or any other order.

4. All evidence upon which the Plaintiff intends to rely in support of the orders it seeks on 26 September 2016 is to be served upon the solicitor for the Defendant by 5:00 pm on 20 September 2017.

5. The final hearing of the Plaintiff’s Summons and Notice of Motion is to be listed for hearing on 23 November 2017 for 2 days.

6. I note that the parties will reach an agreement today as to the identity of the experts to be retained to assess the Defendant in accordance with the orders made by Adamson J on 23 August 2017.

7. In relation to Orders 1 and 2, I will publish written reasons for those orders on Friday 8 September 2017. Counsel are excused from attending.

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Decision last updated: 21 February 2018