A NSW Supreme Court has dismissed a detention application against a convicted paedophile, meaning he can remain on bail until his sentencing.
Neil Duncan was convicted in the Queanbeyan District Court on June 2 on eight counts of sexually touching girls under the age of 16.
The offences occurred between 2018 and 2020 in the Snowy Mountains and Bega areas.
The 67-year-old was granted bail ahead of his sentencing on August 5.
The decision to grant Duncan bail caught the attention of NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman, who requested the Director of Public Prosecutions review the bail decision
Duncan was also mentioned in a speech in NSW parliament by Maroubra Labor MP Michael Daley ahead of a decision to amend NSW's Bail Act.
Changes came into effect on June 27 that required a judge to refuse bail following conviction and before sentencing for an offence for which the culprit will be sentenced to full-time imprisonment, unless special of exceptional circumstances could be proved.
Today, Duncan faced the NSW Supreme Court as part of a bail hearing, where the Crown put forward a detention application against him.
The defence argued Duncan had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and would require surgery in September, thereby falling under the definition of "special or exceptional circumstances".
The Crown argued Duncan would eventually be sentenced to full-time imprisonment but conceded that the medical evidence presented by the defence demonstrated special or exceptional circumstances.
'Balance in his favour'
Justice Geoffrey Bellew said Duncan appeared "to accept the inevitability of a full-time custodial sentence”, and was satisfied based on the evidence at hand that that would be the case.
However, he found special and exceptional circumstances had been proven and dismissed the Crown’s detention application, with Duncan remaining on bail.
Justice Bellew also accepted that Duncan had not breached his bail in the lead-up to today's hearing and said an allegation that he had, which included footage taken at a Narrabri Pony Club, had been dismissed by another judge on a previous occasion.
"I can ignore the alleged breach of bail because when it came before the magistrate, they were not satisfied a breach had occurred," Justice Bellew said.
The defence also told the court that Duncan’s surgery scheduled for September "may well require an application for an adjournment of sentencing".
His current bail conditions prevent him from attending pony club events in two regions of the state, and not leaving his Timbumburi property, near Tamworth, without being in company of a family member.
