A new bill to be introduced in South Australia today will close a legal loophole in the state’s self-defence laws after Cody Edwards was jailed for 11 years for killing Synamin Bell.
Edwards was in a drug-induced psychosis in 2022 when he beat and stabbed Bell to death.
In his drug-affected state, Edwards wrongly believed he needed to defend himself from her.
As a result, prosecutors accepted a plea from Edwards to manslaughter charges, rather than murder.
Under the new legislation, killers would not be able to use the fact that they had taken drugs as an excuse for self-defence.
“(If) you deliberately have taken drugs that alter the way you see the world and react to it, you won’t be able to use the partial defence of excessive force in defending yourself,” South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher said.
He said the defence is rarely used but possible and that Edwards’ 11-year sentence is a reflection of outdated laws.
“The court applied the law as it stands today, but we don’t think that law meets community expectations, so today we are releasing draft legislation,” he said.
Maher said he couldn’t imagine how difficult the situation would be for the family.
“This has highlighted an area with a gap in the law, and we want to try and change the laws so that in the future, if this happens again, people don’t have to go through what the family of Synamin Bell have experienced,” he said.
Community consultation on the draft legislation will last four weeks with the government hoping to pass the laws by the end of the year.
“The push for change is amazing and shows the sentence handed down was nothing but a disgrace,” Bell’s family told 9News.
