Justin John Kuhner, 41, accused of Raceview kidnapping, extortion crime

The lawyer for a Sydney man accused of taking part in the allegedly horrific kidnapping and torture of a couple at Ipswich says there is no evidence to place him at the crime scene.

A MAN accused of taking part in the allegedly horrific kidnapping, torture and extortion of an Ipswich couple, claims there is no strong evidence against him and denies links to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Appearing in custody at Ipswich Magistrates Court, NSW man Justin John Kuhner is charged with more than a dozen offences alleging he was involved in a series of incidents at Raceview late at night on October 25, 2019, where Netherlands national Eduardus Groenewegen and his Belgian girlfriend Caroll Dufailly were the victims of a violent home invasion, allegedly by a group of men dressed in fake police tactical response gear.

More details on the allegations emerged as Kuhner, 41, from Fairfield in Sydney, through his lawyer Mitchell Cavanagh, made his fifth application for bail – just weeks after an unsuccessful application in June before Brisbane Supreme Court.

Kuhner faces the same charges as his five co-accused that include entering a dwelling with intent by break at night use/threaten violence when armed – serious organised crime; doing acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm; two counts of kidnapping; administering poison with intent to harm; torture; assaults causing bodily harm while armed/in company; two counts of deprivation of liberty; use, threaten violence when armed; two counts of extortion with intent to gain benefit with threat of detriment serious personal injury; face masked, blackened or disguised with intent to commit serious offence; impersonating police officers; and robbery when armed/in company/using personal violence – serious organised crime.

The Crown prosecution case police will allege that some people involved are members or associates of the Lone Wolf outlaw motorcycle gang.

In the bail application Mr Cavanagh said it was a weak prosecution case against Kuhner, and that circumstantial evidence would rely on the interpretation of raw telecommunications data (that places mobile phones/ciphr devices in the area of the offences at the relevant times).

He said the prosecution would also argue that the devices of interest all held “Movistar SIM cards’.

He argued there would now be further delays in a committal hearing and trial after a substantial amount of police material was provided to defence legal teams that would have to be read through.

“There is a dearth of evidence that he is part of organised crime,” Mr Cavanagh said of his client.

Mr Cavanagh said an expert statement from NSW police analysing links to the Lone Wolf outlaw motorcycle gang states “there is no information to connect Mr Kuhner to that outlaw motorcycle gang.”

He said there was no DNA evidence and that its analysis had been “neutral” as to Kuhner.

“Nothing has been served in the past six months that strengthens the prosecution case,” Mr Cavanagh said.

“There was footage of how the accused walks. The gait seen in CCTV but an expert analysis was unable to be taken given the quality of CCTV evidence.”

He said the prosecution would assert that there were various mobile devices that had multiple SIM cards and that appeared to be from the same supplier.

Mr Cavanagh questioned why there was still no expert report or analysis of the telecommunications data.

Crown prosecutor Andreas Galloway maintained there was telecommunications data that linked Kuhner to a ciphr device.

Mr Galloway said the ‘Movistar SIM card’ also connected him to the other accused men.

He said the ciphr devices of interest all held Movistar SIM cards.

“He is by his own admission in possession of a ciphr device. He did not drive to the Gold Coast or northern NSW (afterwards) as he stayed in Ipswich then flew home,” Mr Galloway said.

“He had no reason to travel with the others.”

Magistrate Dennis Kinsella said the delay in the case was an issue to consider and he was not in a position to assess evidence.

He noted that the case against Kuhner would appear to be quite confined and involve the movement of ciphr devices.

After reading written submissions, Mr Kinsella refused the bail application.

Kuhner was remanded in custody to appear on August 27.