No NT suppression order for Kelly

A man facing multiple charges in the Northern Territory including break-and-enter, stealing and arson has lost a bid to have his name suppressed.

Ronald Kelly was arrested on Monday, three weeks after he allegedly broke into a Darwin home and stole six guns.

He is facing 29 charges including six counts of stealing, three counts of property damage, five counts of trespassing, four counts of unlawful entry, six driving offences including dangerous driving and driving while unlicensed, aggravated assault, and arson.

His lawyer argued there had been a high and unusual degree of media interest in his case, that reporting of the matter had been inaccurate and irrelevant, and that her client had been vilified on social media, with commentators calling him "scum" and saying "he should be shot".

Laura McDonough said Kelly was entitled to the presumption of innocence and that due to the attention a future jury could find it difficult to remain impartial.

She also said he had been unfairly linked to other high-profile crimes occurring over the same period in Darwin.

But prosecutor Ian Rowbottam told the Darwin Magistrates Court said that conducting the matter in public "is an essential part of Australian justice".

He said Ms McDonough was anticipating that contemporary reporting might prejudice possible future charges.

He said Kelly's own sisters created the publicity when they made pleas to the media for him to turn himself in to police after he escaped a five-hour siege and evaded capture for three weeks.

He also said there was no evidence prejudicial information might be published in future, and that a judge could not control "the clamour of social media".

"He's not that famous," he said of Kelly.

Magistrate Elizabeth Morris agreed.

When balancing the principles of open justice against Kelly's right to a fair trial, she found that "the matter's risk is not such that it could not be cured if they did become an issue by a judge at a later date ... there's no actual prejudice ... so I decline to make an order."

Kelly will next appear in court in August.