Out of jail, and now extradited to SA to serve time ‘owed’

A GEELONG Magistrate granted a South Australian extradition application for a man being held in Victorian custody this week.

In a complicated hearing at Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, it was determined that Rodney Hill, 45, would immediately be extradited to South Australia to serve the extra 2½ years he “owed” for a large number of dishonesty and traffic offences.

Mr Hill had been released from Victorian prison over the weekend after serving a sentence on unrelated charges.

Detective Sergeant Jason Olsen, of SA police, told the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Monday that Hill breached parole and bail in 2007 by fleeing to Victoria.

It was established during the application, that Mr Hill was also supposed to com- mence a community corrections order on his release, therefore there were two jurisdictions with competing interests in him.

The application continued on Thursday and Geelong Police Prosecutor Senior Constable Alana Groves told the court she believed Hill posed “a significant flight risk and was at risk of reoffending”.

The court heard that Hill had failed many corrections orders in the past, and had been assessed as “unsuitable” for the current order.

Sen-Constable Groves said “the purpose of a corrections order is to assist an offender to rehabilitate and assimilate back into society.”

“Therefore allowing Mr Hill to undertake a CCO prior to a term of imprisonment would be an inappropriate sentencing option.”

Magistrate Anne McGarvie granted the application for extradition.