Tony Leonard Rice’s charges over Brunswick fatal hit and run dismissed

A man who was accused of being the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal hit and run crash outside a Rockhampton pub will not go to trial over the allegations.

charged with dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm or death and leaving without providing help. He is the man accused of the hit and run crash that led to the death of 76-year-old Rockhampton local Jim Murphy in August 2019 outside the Brunswick Hotel.

A man accused of being the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal hit and run crash outside a Rockhampton pub will not go to trial over the allegations.

Tony Leonard Rice was accused of being the driver involved in the incident where Jimmy Murphy, 76, was killed in Archer Street, The Range, on August 17, 2019.

His charges relating to this alleged incident were dismissed recently by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The dismissal occurred after Mr Rice was ordered to stand trial in the District Court following a committal hearing in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court in April 2022.

Hit and run victim Jim Murphy, 76

Defence lawyer Nick Crawford cross examined two alleged witnesses during the hearing, with one witness claiming they only knew the back passengers in the vehicle which had allegedly been driven by Mr Rice.

The magistrates court heard it was alleged Mr Rice drove the car to the Brunswick Hotel so a female passenger could buy alcohol from the bottle shop.

The witnessed claimed that as they left the bottle shop, she saw Mr Murphy for a split second and then felt the car hit something.

She claimed she told the others in the car they had hit a person, but they didn’t believe her due to her mental health history.

The second witness cross examined claimed she could not remember much from that period in her life.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the DPP made its decision “based on a consideration of the admissible evidence the Crown determined that there were no reasonable prospects of obtaining a conviction in this case”.