Declan Laverty murder trial: Why jury may no longer be taken on crime scene view

A proposal for the trial of Keith Kerinauia for the alleged murder of Darwin bottle shop worker Declan Laverty is now unlikely to proceed. Read the latest from inside the courtroom.

Declan Laverty, 20, died on March 19, 2023, just minutes from finishing his shift at BWS Airport Tavern.

Jurors in the upcoming trial for the alleged murder of Darwin bottle shop worker Declan Laverty may no longer be taken to view the scene of the fatal stabbing due to a “significant redevelopment” of the site.

On Friday, Crown prosecutor Marty Aust told the Supreme Court there had been a number of developments ahead of the trial, set down for up to 10 days in June.

Mr Aust said a day of legal argument in the absence of the jury, known as a voir dire, which had been set down for Monday, was no longer needed, with Justice Graham Hiley vacating the sitting and congratulating the parties on reaching agreement without the need for the court’s intervention.

Mr Aust also advised the court that it appeared increasingly unlikely that jurors would be taken on a viewing of the BWS Airport Tavern, where Mr Laverty was stabbed to death on March 19 last year.

The BWS bottle shop where Declan Laverty was stabbed to death last year. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“It has come to my knowledge there have been what appear to be significant redevelopments and a change of fit-out at the location,” he said.

“It may be that it is simply futile to try and do that.

“What we would otherwise do by agreement is get an old plan of the building, we’ll have CCTV footage, which is very clear and shows, as best as CCTV footage can show, the manner in which the relevant locations are fitted out.”

Defence barrister Peter Maley said he agreed with Mr Aust’s assessment.

“In terms of viewing, it looks to be more and more unlikely,” Mr Maley said.

Justice Hiley said the bottle shop was, in any case, likely to be familiar to most of the jury.

“Some of the jurors have probably been there at some stage, most of us have,” he said.

The court has previously heard that Mr Kerinauia, 20, was likely to plead self-defence.