Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Juliet Oldroyd, accused of abducting five-year-old Darwin girl Grace Hughes, granted bail for a second time

A woman accused of abducting a five-year-old girl has been granted bail for a second time under the condition she "effectively stay home".

Juliet Oldroyd, 50, is among five people charged over the alleged abduction of Darwin girl Grace Hughes, who police say was missing for almost a fortnight before being handed over last month. 

She is charged with two counts of abducting a child under the age of 16, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and making threats to someone involved in a criminal investigation. 

Ms Oldroyd was granted bail after being charged initially, but had her bail revoked for allegedly sending threatening messages to one of the police officers investigating the alleged abduction.

In one of the messages, Ms Oldroyd allegedly told the officer: "I'll bury you."

She was denied bail in the Darwin Local Court earlier this month, but granted bail under strict conditions in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Wednesday following a review.

Before granting bail, Justice Peter Barr told the court he remained concerned about the "religious emphasis" of the messages Ms Oldroyd sent to the officer.

"Which indicate to me she has little regard for the law of the community and sees herself as actionable to god alone," he said. 

"Her previous conduct is quite extraordinary."

However, Ms Oldroyd's lawyer, Mary Chalmers SC, said her client was not in "a particularly great state of mind" when the messages were sent. 

"They were ill-advised, she sees that now," Ms Chalmers said.

"I'm not instructed my client is only answerable to god and not the conditions of her bail."

Ms Chalmers said her client was willing to comply to strict conditions including"the promise to effectively stay home".

Under her bail conditions, Ms Oldroyd will not be permitted to leave her home except for medical or legal appointments for herself or her children and will have to wear an electronic monitoring device. 

She is also not allowed to publish any information relating to the police investigation or judicial proceedings, contact any of the co-accused or people involved in the investigation and paid a total of $30,000 in bonds. 

She will return to court on October 26.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.