Attorney General of New South Wales v Doolan BHT Thompson (No 4) (Final) [2021] NSWSC 541

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Attorney General of New South Wales v Doolan BHT Thompson (No 4) (Final) [2021] NSWSC 541 Hearing dates: 30 April 2021 Decision date: 17 May 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Rothman J Decision: (1) Pursuant to the provisions of s 127 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW), the defendant's status as a forensic patient is extended for a period of 18 months from the date of this order; (2) Access to the file in respect of these proceedings is restricted and may only be granted to a non-party with leave of a judge of the Court, and only after the parties have had notice of the non-party's application for access and the parties have been afforded an opportunity to be heard. Catchwords: MENTAL HEALTH – forensic patient – application for extension of status as forensic patient – unacceptable risk posed by defendant – question whether less restrictive means available that could manage risk – unavailability of less restrictive means to be proved with high degree of probability – possibility but still high degree – more time on conditional release may raise real possibility – extension granted for short duration Legislation Cited: Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW) Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW), ss 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 132 Cases Cited: Attorney General of NSW v Doolan [2015] NSWSC 1773 Attorney General of NSW v Doolan by his tutor Jennifer Thompson (No 2) [2016] NSWSC 107 Attorney General of NSW v Doolan by his tutor Jennifer Thompson (No 3) (Preliminary) [2021] NSWSC 57 Attorney-General of NSW v McGuire (No.2) [2014] NSWSC 288 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Attorney General of New South Wales (Plaintiff) Bevan Charles Doolan by his tutor Jennifer Thompson (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: H Atkin (Plaintiff) L Jardim (Defendant)