A mental health nurse accused of killing her husband has cried in court after she was granted bail.
Caroll Hopkinson, 58, has spent the last five weeks behind bars after she was charged with the murder of her husband Simon, 60, in their Taperoo home in Adelaide’s west on July 7.
A court previously heard that Hopkinson called emergency services after allegedly stabbing her husband during a tussle with a knife.
She appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court via videolink for a bail hearing on Tuesday.
Her lawyer Jeff Powell argued that his client posed no risk and was not a risk of reoffending or absconding.
The police prosecutor also expressed concerns for Hopkinson’s mental health while in court, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.
‘The main concern we have is knowing whether her mental health is going to be stable enough, and that stability maintained, throughout the proceedings so we can ensure she’s still with us for those proceedings,’ the prosecutor told the court.
‘Our fear is that she may take her own life.’
Carroll Hopkinson left the Adelaide Women’s Prison shortly after 6pm on Tuesday night after she was earlier grant bail
The mental health nurse is accused of stabbing her husband Simon to death last month
The prosecutor recommended home detention for Hopkinson.
But Mr Powell told the court that his client’s mental health ‘would be greatly improved’ by her returning to the community and receiving treatment from home.
He noted her own training as a mental health nurse and her links to the nursing profession would help her navigate her struggles.
She also had a doctor she could see for mental health support and she was receiving medication, Mr Powell added.
Chief Magistrate Mary Hribal agreed that there was ‘nothing to suggest’ that Hopkinson posed no risk to the community and her health state could be effectively managed through treatment while on bail.
The court was told Hopkinson had secured a guarantor who would stay with her and help her at home she had a ‘supportive daughter’ who would help her.
‘For those reasons … I’m prepared to release her on bail,’ Magistrate Hribal said.
The magistrate agreed that Caroll Hopkinson (left) posed no threat to the community
She ordered a string of strict bail conditions.
Hopkinson can’t leave South Australia and is banned from consuming drugs and alcohol
She will remain under the supervision of Community Corrections officers and must undertake psychological or psychiatric treatment deemed appropriate.
Hopkinson left the Adelaide Women’s Prison shortly after 6pm on Tuesday night, wearing a bright coloured striped jumper and orange pants and clutching a black bag filled with belongings.
She was asked by reporters whether relieved to be leaving custody
‘I am,’ she replied before she was driven away.
Caroll Hopkinson, 58, has spent the last five weeks behind bars
Caroll Hopkinson told reporters she was relieved to be free on bail before she was driven away
Mr Powell previously told the court that Hopkinson woke up on the morning to a strange noise coming from the bathroom.
Hopkinson allegedly found Simon, also a mental health nurse, trying to end his life.
Panicked, she ran to get a knife to stop him but an ‘aggressive’ Simon then turned on her, according to her lawyer.
‘She understood his reaction to be ‘why are you stopping me from something that I need to do’. That is how she interpreted his reaction,’ Mr Powell told the court last month..
‘He took the knife from her and assaulted her. She had cuts on her hands from trying to defend herself. There was a struggle, and then she took the knife back.’
Simon then lunged at his wife, who allegedly stabbed him in fear of her life.
Hopkinson was bailed until her next court appearance in November.
No plea has yet been entered.
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