On Wednesday, Minns announced a two-pronged response following Ticehurst’s alleged murder by a former partner, Daniel Billings, who had been released on bail just weeks ago after he was accused of sexually assaulting her.
As well as ordering an urgent review into the adequacy of bail laws from Crown Advocate David Kell SC, Minns said the Bail Act Monitoring Group – made up of a series of government agencies such as Corrective Services NSW and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions – would look at “operational” aspects of the laws governing bail.
Minns conceded the 28-year-old mother of one was failed by the state’s justice system, admitting his government had “serious questions” to answer after her alleged murder by a former partner who was already on bail for serious alleged offences.
But the Bail Act Monitoring Group previously reviewed bail in relation to sexual violence offences without recommending any changes to the law.
While the full review was never made public, at the time the Bail Act Monitoring Group admitted NSW Police were “of the view that overall the recommendations do not go far enough to address the issues identified through the course of the review”.
Billings had been charged with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent, four counts of stalking and harassment, two counts of damaging or destroying property and one count of animal cruelty.
Court records show Dubbo Local Court registrar L. Cusack placed him on an interim apprehended violence order and released him on $5000 bail on April 6. The bail decision was later continued by a magistrate in Parkes Local Court.
On Wednesday Minns conceded the use of local court registrars was an issue of “resourcing” for local courts in regional areas, particularly on matters heard on weekends.
He said it was a “very reasonable question” to ask whether registrars – who are not judicial officers – should be making bail decisions on serious alleged crimes.
Source: 12ft