Taxpayers may be forced to pay Blake Davis and Hannah Quinn’s adjourned case
Two lovers charged over the samurai sword murder of an aspiring rapper appeared hand-in-hand at court on Tuesday, where they were told taxpayers may have to reimburse some of their legal costs.
Two lovers charged over the samurai sword murder of an aspiring rapper appeared hand-in-hand at court on Tuesday, where they were told taxpayers may have to reimburse some of their legal costs.
Blake Davis, 29, and Hannah Quinn, 24 — charged over the August murder of aspiring rapper Jett McKee in Sydney’s inner west — fronted Downing Centre Local Court where James Ly for the Director of Public Prosecutions asked for a two-week adjournment.
The move angered Chief Magistrate, Judge Graeme Henson who said the matter had already been adjourned in November for prosecutors to review the evidence and confirm the charges.
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“This is another episode in a problem which seems to be endemic in the DPP,” Judge Henson said.
He added that every time an accused showed up to court with their lawyer, only to have the case adjourned at the request of the DPP, they were billed by their lawyers.
He said some accused, or their lawyers, may have grounds to seek costs for those appearances.
The money would “come from the taxpayers of NSW as a further subsidisation of the office of the DPP” Judge Henson said.
A spokeswoman for the DPP explained why the adjournment had been sought in the case of Quinn and Davis.
“The Crown Prosecutor briefed as the Charge Certifier in this matter is to be appointed a District Court Judge and this was announced in late December 2018,” she said.
“This required a new Crown Prosecutor to be briefed to consider the appropriate charges. The new Crown Prosecutor requested a further two weeks in order to certify the charges.”
The Sunday Telegraph reported last week Judge Henson had lashed out at Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb, telling him to “get his house in order” over unnecessary adjournments.
Quinn and Davis sat side-by-side for the brief hearing. Hannah’s mother Megan, who has opposed the couple being allowed to live together while on bail, sat a few metres away.
A court previously heard McKee punched Davis with knuckledusters in a failed home robbery at the couple’s Forest Lodge flat.
Quinn allegedly chased McKee outside, flinging him to the ground where Davis is alleged to have fatally struck him with the sword.
The case was adjourned to February 5.
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