Cleo Smith: Terrence Kelly admits obstructing police after his arrest in Carnarvon

The man who admitted to the abduction of little Cleo Smith from her family’s tent has also admitted to obstructing police in the hours after his dramatic arrest. Terence Darrell Kelly had denied a charge of assaulting a public officer under the roof of Carnarvon police station on November 4, 2021 – after he had been arrested following the discovery of the little girl in his house on the north-west town. The news of the Cleo being found alive — and the arrest of the man police said took her — made global headlines. And Kelly’s detention in the local police station became the focus of the world’s media. In Perth Magistrate’s Court on Monday, the details of some of what happened behind those walls were revealed for the first time. Police prosecutors amended the charge against Kelly to obstructing public officers, which he subsequently pleaded guilty to. Magistrate Lynette Dias heard that at just after 9pm on November 4, Kelly had been let out of his cell to have a cigarette — flanked by one police officer in front him, one behind and an auxiliary officer also present. It was during that smoke break that Kelly pushed past the officer and bolted towards a police charge room. With the officers in pursuit, Kelly was quickly re-restrained — with a police riot shield used as part of the detention — and he was then placed back in a secure cell. When asked by Magistrate Dias what had sparked his behaviour, Kelly said: “It was just a confusing time.” His time in custody in Carnarvon came to an end when Kelly was flown under unprecedented security to Perth, where he has been in custody ever since. He appeared from Casuarina prison via video link on Monday. Magistrate Dias fined him $1000 for obstructing the police. It was more than a year ago that Kelly also admitted he was the man who snatched little Cleo Smith from her isolated tent and then held her captive for 18 days. The admission brought a rapid conclusion to what had been expected to be a prolonged legal process for Kelly, who has been in custody since his dramatic arrest on November 3 — an arrest happening while other detectives rescued the four-year-old from Kelly’s Carnarvon home. That rescue — accompanied by heart-wrenching body-worn footage of the moment the little girl confirmed her own name — has already become one of the finest moments in WA policing history. That charge was that on October 16 in Carnarvon, Terence Darrell Kelly forcibly took Cleo Grace Smith from her parents. He is yet to be sentenced over the kidnapping of little Cleo.