Origin legend Marty Bella questioned in court over alleged attack

A murdered woman’s witness statement, a dead brown snake and prior attack claims are linked to allegations a Mackay region man tried to run down a former rugby league legend on his own property.

A murdered woman’s witness statement, blood stained pipe and prior attack claims are linked to allegations a Mackay region man tried to run down a former rugby league legend on his own property.

Origin great Marty Bella made claims Samuel Anthony Camilleri had “twice previously rammed (him) with his buggy” as lawyers for his alleged attacker questioned if any ongoing injuries were caused by a genetic condition or his days on the rugby league field, a court heard.

Mr Bella was the first of five witnesses called during a Mackay Magistrates Court committal hearing for Mr Camilleri, who is charged with dangerous driving and assault occasioning bodily harm while armed/in company on July 15, 2021 at Koumala.

Police allege there was a verbal altercation before Mr Camilleri deliberately drove his ute at the former star prop on his newly bought Schirmer Rd property.

It is also alleged he sprayed an industrial detergent on his face and punched him between five and six times in the head.

Former Origin great and Mackay Regional Councillor Marty Bella (right) leaves court after giving evidence in a committal hearing into an alleged attack on him in July 2021 at his Koumala property. Picture: Janessa Ekert

Fisher Dore Lawyers defence solicitor Nick Dore asked Mr Bella about his relationship and any with Mr Camilleri before, to which he said: “The fact that he’d twice previously rammed me with his buggy while I was on the ATV would indicate to me that we were on less than friendly terms.”

Mr Bella, who is now a Mackay councillor, said a dead brown snake had allegedly been left on top of a bin in which his wife disposed of their rubbish.

“I would assume Mr Camilleri would have knowledge of that,” he said, adding his neighbour had also allegedly abused him and his wife once.

Mr Dore questioned when and why the “bad blood” began, to which Mr Bella said he believed a police raid on a drug crop “seemed to precipitate a certain amount of bad feeling” before he was cut off.

Mr Dore asked Mr Bella if he knew and had any interactions with Rene Latimore the day of his alleged assault.

“After Mr Camilleri rolled the bike over the top of me, sprayed me, bashed me, then tried to run me over and continue to drive,” Mr Bella said, before he was directed to answer the question.

Mr Bella said he saw Ms Latimore “coming down the road towards me holding a phone up” as he was riding his bike home, but said he did not recall speaking to her.

“At that point I’d been knocked unconscious twice, I was struggling very badly,” he said.

Samuel Camilleri (left) leaves Mackay courthouse after he was committed to the district court on charges of dangerous driving and assault occasioning bodily harm while armed/in company. Picture: Janessa Ekert

The court heard Mr Bella said he did not wash his face, hands, shower or change his clothing after the alleged attack and before police arrived.

He also agreed he refused to go to hospital or receive a CT scan despite advice from paramedics and later from doctors.

Mr Bella, who said he was a professional physio for a number of years, told the court he had “suffered no particular deterioration at that point” and had responsibilities running his farm, and later said he “cannot see the point in unnecessary medical testing”.

Mr Dore pressed Mr Bella on his refusal to have a CT scan and his mother’s dementia diagnosis.

“A scan is merely a way of telling the status of certain things … if I was going in the direction of my mother, I do not wish to know,” he said.

Mr Bella accepted that ongoing issues – including impaired cognitive function, “increasing sense of doom” and feeling overwhelmed, irritable and withdrawn – he alleged he suffered following the incident were also symptoms of dementia.

“They could be but rarely do they uptick post the incident,” Mr Bella said.

The court heard he was also questioned on his time as a professional rugby league player and if he would have received hits to the head.

“I think every footballer suffers hits to the head and yes I did,” he said, agreeing he had been concussed a number of times.

Mr Dore suggested a CT scan may also have corroborated Mr Bella’s claims he had been punched five to six times in the head.

“If you have a bleed there are certain indicators … when those indicators occurred I would have had a scan,” Mr Bella said.

Mr Bella told the court his health had improved almost completely back to normal since the alleged attack – he also said he had no symptoms of dementia.

Mr Bella was questioned about the alleged attack and resultant injuries. Picture: Janessa Ekert

The court heard police who attended on the day of the alleged offence had failed to take into evidence a drafting stick Mr Bella alleged was covered in his blood.

Mr Bella alleged the pipe “was the only way I stopped Mr Camilleri” during the incident.

The court heard he pulled “a bloodstained pipe out of a box attached to the rear of the quad bike … explained the pipe had been used during the incident and the blood was his own”.

Mr Dore said Mr Camilleri alleged Mr Bella had “hit him across the back with a stick”.

The investigating officer Constable Madelaine Hoffman agreed the pipe should have been seized that night

Mr Dore questioned why she did not swab Mr Bella’s face or take his clothing for forensic testing, to which she told the court he had said he “washed his face and washed his eyes” after the incident.

In tendered various witness statements during the committal Sergeant Linden Pollard said Rene Latimore had been struck out because she was now dead. Her matter is the subject of an unrelated murder case that is currently before the courts.

Mr Dore conceded there was a prima facie case against his client, who was committed to Mackay District Court on a date to be set.

Outside court Mr Bella said he was “back to normal” but the court case was a mentally draining process.

“You’d like to get it out of the road,” he said.

Regarding questions in court about his mother’s condition, Mr Bella said, “What mum’s going through … is bloody awful.

“She was a woman who basically ran the show, did our financials … and to be reduced to what she is and have … at the back of your mind that fear of that, it’s not real, yeah.”

Originally published as Origin legend Marty Bella questioned in court over alleged attack