Thomas Byrnes, 63, committed to trial for alleged 2013 murder of Allison Bernard, 23, of Kowanyama

An Archer River man has been committed to stand trial on a charge of murdering a young mum, with a witness saying the murder accused claimed the alleged victim had bitten him and he had “roughed her up”.

Allison Bernard went missing from Coen in Far North Queensland in February 2013.

An Archer River man has been committed to stand trial on a charge of murdering a young mum, with a witness saying the murder accused claimed the alleged victim had bitten him and he had “roughed her up”.

Thomas Maxwell Byrnes, 63, entered no pleas and made no comments as he was committed by Magistrate Scott Luxton to trial on a charge of murdering Allison Bernard, 23, on or about February 10, 2013.

Two witnesses recounted conversations with “Tom” (Mr Byrnes) in which he said Ms Bernard had bitten him on the penis, the court was told.

Witness Neville Shepherd, better known as Paddy, said he was sitting with Mr Byrnes under a mango tree around 2017 when Mr Byrnes mentioned the biting incident.

“Tom told me that Allison ‘bit me on the d**k’ – he told me that he had ‘roughed her up’ … and that she took off,” Mr Shepherd said, confirming that Mr Byrnes had said the incident happened at the Archer River Quarry.

Thomas Byrnes arrived in Cairns after his arrest over the alleged murder of Allison Bernard in 2013. Image: Supplied

Barrister for Mr Byrnes, James Sheridan, asked Mr Shepherd if Mr Byrnes may actually have been describing Allison as “being a bit rough”, to which he replied that it could have been so.

Telling the court about a similar conversation, Scott Templeton, who worked for the Department of Fisheries at the time, said he remembered a conversation at the Exchange Hotel in Coen the week of Ms Bernard’s disappearance in which Mr Byrnes described being “bitten on the c**k”.

Mr Templeton confirmed to Ms Sheridan he had not contacted the police at the time saying he believed the police already knew.

Forensic Sciences Queensland senior scientist Emma-Jayne Caunt confirmed to the court that some of the forensic samples were tested on an instrument that was now known to be a contamination risk, following a review of practices at the laboratory.

She said at least 41 samples were tested on the instrument.

Forensic Scientist, Emma Caunt, said some samples in Mr Byrne’s case were tested on an instrument that had been identified as a contamination risk.

Ms Caunt said she conducted further analysis of the results to better understand the contamination risk.

“In the investigation, I haven’t found any obvious gross contamination however I cannot exclude the possibility that contamination has occurred in this case,” Ms Caunt said.

She said the samples were taken from a yellow towel and a pair of pink underpants, which were tested for spermatozoa.

Owner of the Archer River Quarry, Mr Darcy Bowyer, also gave evidence, saying he employed Mr Byrnes as a caretaker from 2008.

He said he directed Mr Byrnes not to have visitors to the site because it was a “dangerous place”.

The court was told the quarry site had lots of “breakaways” and had also been an old tin mine with holes a person could “fall down”.

Mr Bowyer said he had a conversation with Mr Byrnes about a missing ute around the time Ms Bernard disappeared, but that Mr Byrnes messaged a day later to say he had found it.

“I can’t remember rightly … he just said he was missing a car and thought it was stolen and I told him to ring the police if you can’t find it,” Mr Bowyer said.

“Tom (Byrnes) liked his drink a bit at that time and he could have parked it somewhere under the influence and forgotten where he put it.”

Thomas Byrnes on an earlier date, leaving the Cairns courthouse precinct after day three of an inquest into the disappearance of Kowanyama mother Allison Neridine Bernard.

Ms Bernard was allegedly last seen at the Archer River Quarry where Mr Byrnes worked in February 2013, and she was expected in Kowanyama in the days following.

Initial searches by police in 2013 then in later years has failed to locate her body.

Mr Byrnes was charged with Ms Bernard’s murder in 2024, and following the completion of the committal hearing, his matter will be set down for trial on a date to be fixed.

He did not make an application for bail.

Originally published as Thomas Byrnes, 63, committed to trial for alleged 2013 murder of Allison Bernard, 23, of Kowanyama