Man kidnapped mother-in-law believing she was a ‘witch’ during delusional drug episode, court hears

A man who inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars started abusing drugs to the point he falsely believed his mother-in-law was a “witch” when he kidnapped and stabbed her in August 2020, a court has heard.

Ryan Louis O’Grady, 40, is facing sentencing in the South Australian District Court for a crime spree which included kidnapping and stabbing his 70-year-old mother-in-law and leading police on a dangerous, high-speed pursuit.

“It was a perfect storm of events that is unlikely to ever be repeated,” Mark Norman KC, for O’Grady, told Judge Michael Durrant.

“These offences are as shocking as they are bizarre.”

The court heard O’Grady inherited “hundreds of thousands of dollars” and a house in Unley so decided to move his wife and young daughter from Queensland to Adelaide.

“He became addicted to methamphetamine and because of his money, he was able to obtain it in enormous quantities,” Mr Norman said.

The court heard O’Grady had been consuming meth, cannabis and a drug called “meow meow” for months and started to experience delusions.

Mr Norman told the court he and his wife, Sharon Dyguazo Haywood, lost custody of their daughter in April 2020, after police found them with drug paraphernalia inside a motel room.

“His mental state was really going off a cliff,” Mr Norman said.

“About 48 hours later, O’Grady attends SAPOL headquarters and appears to have said he had ‘Wile E. Coyote as a past’ and wanted to see Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.

“He’s asking to see the commissioner and talking about Looney Tunes cartoon characters.”

Mr Norman said at that point, O’Grady was assessed by psychologists to be a low-level concern as there were “no targeted threats”.

The court was told O’Grady was suffering drug-induced delusions in August 2020 and believed his mother-in-law was a “witch”, practising “black magic” and was going to sell his daughter into slavery.

Mr Norman said O’Grady and his wife were paying a chauffeur hundreds of dollars to drive them around Adelaide before they forced his mother-in-law into the car at Greenacres.

Prosecutor Leah O’Donnell said they stabbed her in the stomach and hit her in the head as they led police on a pursuit from the western suburbs to the foothills and back to the city.

She said they were arrested out the front of SA Police headquarters on Angas Street.

The court heard O’Grady did not have a mental incompetence defence to his crimes because his psychosis was self-inflicted by his own drug use.

O’Grady issued an apology to his victims and the wider community.

He will be sentenced in December.