Jana Hooper charged with Bradley Lyons, Lakes Entrance man’s murder, awaits trial

A Gippsland woman awaiting trial for the kidnap and murder of a Lakes Entrance father, Bradley Lyons, has applied for bail.

Lakes Entrance man Bradley Lyons. Picture: Supplied

A Gippsland mum will have to wait another few days to find out if she will be released on bail two years after she was charged with killing her husband.

Jana Hooper is facing charges of murder, aggravated home invasion, kidnapping, false imprisonment and intentionally causing injury after Bradley Lyons was found in a shallow grave near Bruthen in March 2019.

Mr Lyons, 30, disappeared after arriving at his McCulloch St home after work in December 2018.

Ms Hooper is one of five people charged over Mr Lyons death.

Police allege Mr Lyons was assaulted, kidnapped, taken to a farm and tortured before being shot and buried.

At a Supreme Court bail hearing on Wednesday, Ms Hooper’s defence barrister Julian McMahon claimed there were a number of factors which combined showed why she should be released pending an expected 2022 trial.

Mr McMahon argued many of Ms Hooper’s children needed her at home as four were on the autism spectrum and one was pregnant.

He said while some of Ms Hooper’s children were Crown witnesses, there was no increased risk of her influencing their evidence because the accused had been in contact through visits and phone since her arrest.

Mr McMahon argued Ms Hooper’s indigenous heritage should also be taken into account.

He said Ms Hooper’s mental health was a significant factor affected by sadness and grief, and she was on antidepressants.

He also argued there would be a significant delay of possibly three years from Ms Hooper’s arrest and remand, to a trial date – which had not yet been set yet.

Mr McMahon added Ms Hooper had been regularly attending both Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous while in prison and had improved since the time of her arrest.

But Senior Crown prosecutor Ray Gibson said the factors raised by the defence were not exceptional circumstances and did not justify granting Ms Hooper bail.

Mr Gibson said according to court documents the police informant believed there was an unacceptable risk of Ms Hooper influencing Crown witnesses.

“There are concerns she could easily have a harmful influence on witnesses when back into an environment that was known to be toxic leading up to her arrest,” he said.

He said three of Ms Hooper’s children were Crown witnesses and if she was released into a home environment the risk of influencing their statements was greatly increased.

Mr Gibson said while the hardship to the children should be considered, it should not be deemed in the category of exceptional circumstances for bail.

He said the murder charge was not a simple one and the accusations against Ms Hooper were that she was complicit in a plan to have Mr Lyons murdered.

Mr Gibson argued the prosecution case was strong.

“It’s an unusual case of significant complexity and the delay has to be seen in the context of the nature of the crown case,” he said.

The court heard the series of alleged offending took place over an extended period of time, from the assault and kidnapping, to the transportation to a co-accused property where Mr Lyons was strapped to a massage table and tortured.

Mr Gibson said Mr Lyons was then transported out the back of Bruthen where the killing took place.

Justice Andrew Tinney said he would hand down his decision on whether to grant bail on Monday, August 9.