Keith Waldock refused bail after facing charges in Tony Rowe alleged murder cover up

Prosecutor Damien Jones said he had never seen ‘as egregious an example of perverting the course of justice or destruction of evidence as this’. Read what else the court heard.

Keith Allen Waldock is charged with being an accessory after the killing of Tony Rowe and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

A man accused of trying to cover up the murder of missing Darwin man Tony Rowe has been denied bail while also facing charges of assaulting his partner and property damage.

Keith Allen Waldock faced the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday charged with being an accessory after the fact, attempting to pervert the course of justice and making demands with menace.

In applying for bail, his lawyer Matt Hubber said Waldock had also been charged with assault for throwing “half a plastic cup of water at his partner”, who was in court to support him.

“I spoke with her about those charges, representations will be written and it’s unlikely that that matter will even proceed given the information I’ve received,” he said.

Mr Hubber said his client was also accused of damaging his neighbour’s door by throwing a rock at it but had since offered to fix it and pay for the damage.

“His criminal charge was in train by that time so that’s the subject of negotiations, it may be a plea if it’s not negotiated some other way,” he said.

Mr Hubber said if granted bail, Waldock would live with his partner and her grandmother and would go back to work on fishing boats to help pay for his legal defence.

“I know he does have a satellite phone out there, so part of the proposal would be that he would call as often as necessary by phone, the police, while he’s on the boat,” he said.

But in opposing bail, prosecutor Damien Jones said “I don’t even think we get to a point of ordering a bail assessment report”.

“There is nothing submitted that even remotely comes close to getting over the presumption and I haven’t even turned to the 19-page antecedent history in relation to a constant flow of complete disregard to orders of the court,” he said.

“After 14 years of practice I have never seen (as) egregious example of perverting the course of justice or destruction of evidence as this.”

Judge Ray Murphy refused bail, saying it was “too serious a matter” and Waldock “simply does not pose a good risk” and he will return to court on September 13.