A DISPUTE over who should transcribe 74 discs of electronic recordings crucial to the case against a man accused of killing his severely disabled nine-year-old daughter looks set to delay the matter even further, nearly seven years after the girl was found dead inside her Clarence Town home.
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The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has been charged with manslaughter and is expected to have his matter mentioned in Newcastle District Court today, ahead of a Court of Criminal Appeal hearing into a judge’s ruling not to grant the defence a temporary stay in the proceedings.
The nine-year-old girl was found dead in her bed on the afternoon of July 17, 2011.
She suffered from cerebral palsy, required 24-hour care and was severely restricted in her movements.
An inquest into her death in April, 2013, heard the child died from a combination of internal injuries, which a paediatrician said were caused by a blunt force to the stomach, such as a fist.
The injuries included tears to her liver, diaphragm, oesophagus and small bowel.
The inquest was about to enter its fourth day when Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund ruled there was evidence capable of convicting a known person of a serious offence.
Strike Force Nylon detectives provided a brief of evidence to the DPP to consider whether charges would be laid. The man was charged with manslaughter in February, 2014, and committed for trial in July that year.
A trial date in February, 2016, was set, but later vacated. A new trial date of May 29, 2017 was set, but suffered the same fate.
The man’s legal representatives have pursued a stay in the proceedings, claiming they don’t have the capacity or resources to listen to and transcribe 74 discs of listening devices material, which they claim would take 70 to 80 days to complete.
But in September last year Judge Roy Ellis denied an application from the defence to stay the proceedings until police provided a transcript of the discs.
The matter is currently listed for trial in July.
But that date could be vacated after a Court of Criminal Appeal hearing in June into the judge’s ruling on the temporary stay application.
