Fewer conditions on Snowtown accomplice's freedom

Yahoo

28-05-2025

Snowtown murders accomplice Mark Ray Haydon has had dozens of conditions placed on his freedom and will be the subject of intensive supervision for 18 months.
But the new court order does not include several earlier conditions, including wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, a curfew, and a ban on drinking alcohol and entering licensed premises.
Haydon, 66, appeared in the SA Supreme Court on Wednesday, where an application for an extended supervision order for a high-risk offender was approved, and most of the conditions of an interim order imposed in 2024 were confirmed.
He spent 25 years in jail for his role as an accessory in the gruesome South Australian murder spree that resulted in the deaths of 12 victims, including his wife Elizabeth.
Haydon, who was permitted to appear in court via videolink, was released on parole in May 2024 to live in the community under strict supervision.
The extended supervision order imposes dozens of conditions modelled on Haydon's parole order.
The include living at an approved address, reporting to a community corrections officer, abstaining from illegal drugs, not possessing any weapons, submitting to drug or gunshot residue tests, not contacting victims or their families, not communicating with the media or co-offenders, maintaining a charged mobile phone and undertaking recommended treatment after a psychological assessment.
Justice Laura Stein told Haydon that it was "absolutely critical that you strictly obey the conditions".
"If you breach any of the conditions you should expect to find yourself back in custody, and you should also expect that there might be an application to keep you in custody for a period of time," she said.
Haydon's barrister Sam Abbott KC said he "did not concede, but did not oppose" the orders.
John Bunting and Robert Wagner were found guilty of the murders in 2003. Both are serving life sentences with no chance of parole.
Haydon was found to have assisted his friends cover up their crimes by storing the bodies of murder victims in barrels in his shed and later renting the infamous Snowtown bank.
In April, the fourth man convicted over the murders, Jamea Vlassakis applied to be released on parole and the parole board is expected to hold a hearing later this year to consider his application.
He was 19 when he committed the crimes and was found guilty of being involved in four of the murders.
SA Commissioner for Victims' Rights Sarah Quick said the extended supervision order confirmation has given the victims an increased sense of safety and reassurance, particularly as Haydon is prohibited from contacting them.
"The extended supervision order supports victims' healing and reinforces their trust in the justice system," she told AAP.