Justice Barr has released 19 year old Dylan Voller from prison eight months early, so he can complete a rehabilitation program in Alice Springs.
“It would be a condition Dylan Voller wear an electronic monitoring device, as well as comply with stringent conditions,” Justice Barr said.
“A written case plan has been prepared, the case plan appears very worthwhile,” he said.
Justice Barr said his decision was influenced by Mr Voller's looming release date, and said if he wasn’t released into Bush Mob now, he would be released in eight months time without any “support or guidance”.
“This will give Mr Voller the opportunity to demonstrate good behaviour in the community,” he said.
Mr Voller will complete a sixteen week placement at Bush Mob, and will then return to court, where a decision will be made on whether the remaining two months of his sentence are suspended or not.
Sister Kirra Voller cried as Justice Barr read out his decision, and said she was “speechless”.
Ms Voller told NITV News: “I was getting so emotional in the court room thinking of it [Bush Mob]. I was trying not to look at Dylan because every time they were talking about if the bed was available [at Bush Mob] or how he was going to get to Alice, I was just imagining it in my head and imagining calling mum and saying he's coming home and we can finally visit him,” she said as she began to cry happily.
“He is ready to get out and be a leader.”
Source: NITV News/Elliana Lawford
“Since he was 12 years of age, he has spent little over a-year-and-a-half out of custody,” Voller's lawyer David Dalton SC said.
“He is now a young man that wants to behave himself.”
Voller was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for aggravated robbery in 2014, which he was due to complete in October.
His lawyers alleged Voller would have received a different sentence if the judge had known about his mistreatment in youth detention, which prompted the NT Royal Commission.
His representation proposed he be released from prison, so he could participate in Bush Mob in Alice Springs.
Voller will now spend four months there under “very strict conditions”.
“He is prepared to suffer the consequences should he breach the stringent conditions,” Mr Dalton says.
If he adheres to the conditions, Voller could have the remainder of his sentence suspended.
Outside of court, Dylan’s sister Kirra said it’s critical her brother is supported to re-integrate into society.
“Like his lawyers said, from 2010 to now, he’s only been outside in the real world for a year and a half. In seven years he’s only been outside for a year and a half,” Ms Voller said.
“This is the perfect time to instate a plan and say, ‘OK, Dylan, these are your conditions. We’re giving you a trial period, you have eight months now until your sentence is up, and this is your time to prove yourself and rehabilitate yourself’.”
Justice Peter Barr noted Mr Voller’s proposed bail conditions were “very substantial”, and referred to Bush Mob’s strict guidelines.
Dylan Voller will be released from 9am Monday.
“Bush Mob has quite a stringent exclusion and has a 'three strikes and you're out' policy," he said.
