‘s youngest-ever murderer who killed a three-year-old girl will walk out of jail as a free man within 24 hours after a judge dismissed a bid to keep him locked up.
SLD was 13 when he murdered toddler Courtney Morley-Clarke in January 2001 on the NSW Central Coast.
He has now been granted lifetime anonymity to prevent the public from being able to identify him despite his horrific crime.
After serving a 20-year sentence, SLD was briefly released in Wollongong NSW in September 2023 before he swiftly returned to custody after breaching conditions.
But with the current interim detention order ending this Saturday, an official bid to keep the 37-year-old in jail was heard in NSW Supreme Court this week.
On Friday, Justice Mark Ierace sparked confusion when he delivered a two word verdict that sparked chaos: ‘Application denied.’
It was initially unclear exactly what was meant by the decision, triggering chaotic scenes as officials clarified.
Justice Ierace later returned to the bench to make clear he had refused the NSW Government’s application for extended detention, and was setting SLD free, subject to his original supervision order.
While SLD, whose identity will continue to remain shrouded in mystery, did not speak during proceedings in the two-day hearing, he did send a chilling warning to his lawyer from his Long Bay holding cell.
On Wednesday morning, his lawyer wished him a happy birthday as the killer sat solemnly in front of the video link.
After a brief pause, he bowed his head towards the microphone.
‘Better get out,’ he replied ominously, before returning to the same expressionless pose he maintained throughout the day.
During the hearing, psychiatrists noted that the killer, who is fixated with getting revenge for perceived wrongs, could act violently if he felt he was unfairly treated.
However they also agree that keeping him incarcerated would be detrimental to his mental health and ability to assimilate into the community at a later date.
On Tuesday, Justice Mark Ierace noted that the situation was out of the ordinary.
‘It goes without saying this is a very challenging case, he has been out only in the community for four months since he was only 13 years old,’ he said.
Justice Ierace had options to impose a continuing detention order to keep him behind bars for another 12 months, or granting the extended supervision order.
While there are conditions around his release, SLD has previously admitted that he would be prepared to kill again if something ‘big,’ took place.
In a chilling warning, he added: ‘If I kill someone, it won’t be a child.’
His frightening confession and string of violent offences, which includes choking a nurse while jailed, were all considered by Justice Ierace.
After SLD was last released in September 2023, he was back behind bars after just a few weeks later after he was caught out approaching women with young children at Bulli Beach in Wollongong, NSW claiming he wanted a date.
He was also found to be accessing pornography online and psychologists warned he had become obsessed with losing his virginity after growing up in jail.
SLD had been adopted at the age of four by a family in Point Clare on the Central Coast, but his murder trial heard he remained ‘disturbed’ despite his new home.
At age 13 years and 10 months, he snatched Courtney from her bed in the middle of the night and stabbed her through the heart before leaving her body in long grass 300m from her home.
He was caught after it was noticed that he had gone missing from his home on the morning the three-year-old vanished.
He initially lied about the crime, leading police on a wild goose chase before later admitting he killed her.
Psychiatric assessments of the teen determined he’d never become a functioning social adult.
He was sentenced in August 2002 to 20 years behind bars but was first released in September 2023.
Just weeks later, he was re-arrested for breaching the terms of his release when he spoke to three women with children.
On October 25, SLD went to Bulli Beach near Wollongong with a supervisor and was spotted by an off-duty prison officer who noticed his electronic monitoring anklet.
The officer witnessed SLD approach a woman with a young girl, and then approach another mother washing an infant at the beach showers.
Both women picked up their children and walked away from SLD.
He then entered the Bulli Beach Café and struck up a conversation with a woman feeding an infant.
He allegedly said to the woman: ‘I just got out of jail. Do you come here often?’, followed by: ‘I’ve only been here twice.’
Police came and arrested SLD, who told Wollongong Local Court the next day the encounters were ‘incidental’.
SLD was found guilty of one count of failing to comply with an extended supervision order, which barred him from having contact with children.
He had also tried to access the internet, dating sites and encrypted chat apps.
Authorities believe SLD is a high risk of re-offending because of his obsession with finding a girlfriend to start a sexual relationship after being locked up behind bars for more than 20 years