An accused murderer has been ordered to send police hourly selfies in place of an ankle monitor, as New South Wales phases out the electronic devices for people on bail.
Ayman Manly was ordered to purchase a new Apple iPhone by NSW Supreme Court Justice Richard Weinstein, requiring him to take a photo of himself every hour between 8am and 8pm.
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New Corp journalist Josh Hanrahan told The Briefing the case came to light after the state government announced it would end the use of ankle monitors for bail by September.
“In the lead up to this September deadline… anybody who had one has had to be brought back before the court so they could have their bail redetermined,” Hanrahan said.
In the case of Manly, he was also required to keep ‘Find My iPhone’ switched on.
Hanrahan noted the conditions had “many potential loopholes”, including concerns over AI-generated images.
“The ankle monitor was kind of the thing that allowed authorities to keep an eye on him at all times… in place of that, there’s the iPhone bail conditions.”
The change follows years of incidents where accused criminals cut off monitors and attempted to flee.
Hanrahan said police are now questioning the decision to scrap the devices altogether.
When asked if the government might reinstate monitoring, Hanrahan said, “They’re not. That’s it. This is it. It’s done. So, yeah, it’s a really… significant change for the justice system.”
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