Falconio hearing may be held in secret

The committal hearing into the disappearance of British tourist Peter Falconio in the Australian outback may have to be held in secret, a senior prosecutor warned today.

Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wild QC said the court in Darwin would probably be closed to the media and public if a suppression order on some details of the case was lifted.

The Nine Network TV station today appealed to the full bench of the Northern Territory Supreme Court to lift the ban on the publication of the details.

“If that’s the order made, that will be the last evidence that’s given in public,” Mr Wild told the appeal hearing.

“The rest of it will be conducted in private.

“Being realistic, that’s what will have to happen.”

Bradley John Murdoch, 45, is charged with murdering Falconio, of Huddersfield, and the unlawful assault and deprivation of liberty of Falconio’s girlfriend Joanne Lees, from Brighton, on July 14, 2001.

The appeal did not finish today, further delaying the Falconio committal hearing.

It was hoped the committal proceedings – and testimony from Lees which was adjourned almost a week ago – could resume in Darwin Magistrates Court tomorrow afternoon, after the Supreme Court appeal is concluded.

Magistrate Alasdair McGregor last week banned the publication of several sections of the prosecution’s opening address in order to ensure Murdoch would receive a fair hearing should the case proceed to jury trial.

The sections relate to four strands of evidence – that the defence may challenge at trial – which allegedly link Murdoch to the killing.

Nine today appealed that ruling in the Supreme Court, with three judges being asked to rule on whether McGregor had the power to make the suppression under a section of the Evidence Act.

Nine’s lawyer, John Reeves QC, said McGregor did not have the power and that there was no justification for the suppression order.

“The general rule … is that the administration of justice is carried out in open court,” Reeves said.

But Wild said the case was an unusual one, given the huge amount of public interest in the hearing.

“This is a case which cries out for some suppression of materials,” he said.

Murdoch’s lawyer, Colin McDonald QC, said McGregor had “ample power” to make the suppression order.

“The DPP has bent over backwards to accommodate the media and still Channel Nine want to have every last gasp of the flesh,” McDonald said.

He said there would be “grave implications” if the media were able to publish the information, adding the courts had a duty to ensure the administration of justice, including that Murdoch received a fair trial.