Alleged people smuggling trio, Thomas Goertz, Jade Ormiston and Stephen Roche face Darwin Local Court
A couple accused of allowing their yacht to be used by organised crime figures to escape the country have made a fresh bid to change their bail address, as a third alleged people smuggler waits in prison on remand.
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Seafaring lovers accused of helping an organised crime syndicate smuggle high profiled criminals out of Australia are attempting to move out of their “expensive” Darwin hotel.
Alleged people smugglers Thomas Goertz and Jade Siu Ying Ormiston appeared in Darwin Local Court on Tuesday in a bid to alter their bail address.
The German man and his partner, a United Kingdom citizen, were dramatically arrested on a yacht off the Northern Territory coast, alongside Sydney fugitive Hussein Chamas on January 26.
It is alleged the couple were helping the 35-year-old escape the country while he faced NSW charges of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, drug trafficking and illegally possessing a firearm.
It was alleged Mr Chamas used fake court documents to fool security at a NSW rehab centre to approve his release, and was smuggled 4200km to Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory in a camper van driven by Irish national Stephen Frances Roche.
Ms Ormiston and Mr Goertz were each charged with a single count of people smuggling, but last week the German man was hit with a second people smuggling charge.
It was alleged he allowed the suspected ‘caravan terror plot’ hoax mastermind Sayet Erhan Akca to escape the country, sailing for 42 days from North Queensland to Thailand in September 2023.
On Tuesday, judge Steve Ledek heard both Mr Goertz and Ms Ormiston were seeking to change their bail to move out of their Darwin Hotel room.
Defence barrister Brooke Houen said they were currently living in an “expensive” hotel, and wished to move to a different address in the city.
But Mr Ledek flagged there were a “number of pretty involved conditions” under their current bail, and the proposed address would need to be assessed by Corrections.
He adjourned Mr Goertz and Ms Ormiston’s bail variation application to Monday.
Meanwhile, Mr Roche’s lawyer James Stuchbery told Mr Ledek he had not received the brief of evidence from Commonwealth prosecutors.
Mr Ledek said while he acknowledged it was an ongoing and complex federal investigation, as a person in custody Mr Roche “ought to have as much of the brief as possible at the earliest stage”.
All three alleged people smugglers’ cases will return to the court on May 27 for a preliminary examination mention.
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Originally published as Alleged people smuggling trio, Thomas Goertz, Jade Ormiston and Stephen Roche face Darwin Local Court
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