Darcy Rotherick charged as accessory to Lucas Heights shooting
A tragic young woman with a long history of petty crime is back behind bars on remand. Police allege she was involved in her boyfriend’s plan to have his brother shoot a housemate in bushland south of Sydney.
St George Shire Standard
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A tragic young woman with a sizeable criminal history at the tender age of 22 will remain behind bars on remand as police allege she helped her boyfriend and his brother plan to kneecap his roommate in bushland south of Sydney.
Darcy Rotherick, 22, has been charged with being an accessory to a shooting causing grievous bodily harm after a man was shot in both legs in Lucas Heights at 4am on March 29.
At Central Local Court Magistrate Philip Stewart said Rotherick’s boyfriend Benjamin Goddard, 30, conspired with his brother Joshua, 29, to shoot Benjamin’s roommate in the legs.
“There is material that suggests that about 8.34pm on March 28 Benjamin Goddard speaks to Rotherick, and that she said words to the effect of ‘the cat’s out of the bag, can you come and assist’,” Mr Stewart said.
“Benjamin Goddard says ‘do you want me to grab my tools’, Rotherick says ‘all good, just come’, and Benjamin says ‘let’s just stick to what we planned’.”
Just hours later, police allege Joshua drove Benjamin’s roommate from their Revesby address to bushland off Heathcote Rd and shot him twice in the legs.
Rotherick’s solicitor Justin Lewis said the prosecution case against Rotherick was so “extremely weak” it was incapable of allowing the court to infer she had any knowledge of the shooting which ultimately took place later that evening.
However, Mr Stewart said he was not satisfied any bail conditions would guarantee Rotherick would not interfere with witnesses or endanger the community and refused her bail.
“I’m not able to agree that the case is as weak as you suggest, it is often the case that people agreeing to do crimes don’t specify precisely what they’re going to do,” Mr Stewart said.
Rotherick has spent several months of her adult life on a dispiriting circuit of women’s prisons across the state, including Berrima in the Southern Highlands, Dillwynnia in Sydney’s west and Mulawa in Silverwater.
The court heard she had started using drugs when she was only 12, and much of her criminal history consisted of petty crimes and dishonesty offences committed to support her devastating ice habit.
Rotherick was on parole, which was to expire in August, when she was charged over her alleged involvement in the shooting.
She will next face Bankstown Local Court via the audiovisual link on August 5.
Benjamin is behind bars on remand charged with intentional wounding causing grievous bodily harm, possessing an illegal shortened firearm, discharging a firearm to cause grievous bodily harm and acquiring a firearm while he was subject to a prohibition order.
He will next face Sutherland Local Court on June 18.
Joshua was also formally refused bail after he was charged with discharging a firearm to cause grievous bodily harm, firing a weapon to injure someone, recklessly firing a weapon at a home, possessing a loaded firearm in public, and possessing an unauthorised weapon and ammunition.
Sutherland Shire detectives will also allege Joshua drove to Bexley hours after the Lucas Heights incident and fired several shots at three men in the street as dawn broke, before he allegedly fired several shots through a Caringbah apartment window days later on April 1.
A woman was injured by shattered glass in the third alleged incident, where police say shots were fired from the street into her unit window where she resides with her four-year-old daughter and partner.
Joshua will next face Sutherland Local Court on June 12.