Debbie Jane Richards has accessory after the fact to murder charge mentioned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court

The lawyer for a woman accused of being an accessory after the fact of the alleged murder of a 53-year-old man has revealed their defence team has still not received a pathologist report detailing the man’s cause of death.

The lawyer for a North Toowoomba woman who is charged with being an accessory to the alleged murder of a 53-year-old man in the days before Christmas in 2021 has revealed that an autopsy report and cause of death are yet to be disclosed some nine months after the man’s death.

Debbie Jane Richards had charges of accessory after the fact to murder and fraud briefly mentioned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Thursday, with the 33-year-old not required to front court for the matter.

Ms Richards, who has not yet been required to enter any pleas, was charged by detectives following a probe into the death of North Toowoomba man Len Andrew Hegarty, who was allegedly assaulted by two other men in his home on December 23 last year.

Debbie Jane Richards, 33, has been charged with accessory after the fact of murder after the death of a 53-year-old man at a North Toowoomba property on December 23, 2021.

Police allege that two co-accused, Aaron John Leslie Bunt, 29, of North Toowoomba, and Oakey man William John Currey, 32, assaulted Mr Hegarty, who then fell heavily on a tiled bathroom floor.

Ms Richards is accused of being present in Mr Hegarty’s North Toowoomba home at the time of the assault and that she helped the two other men take Mr Hegarty to bed rather than call emergency services, with Ms Richards periodically checking on Mr Hegarty until he was dead.

Mr Bunt and Mr Currey have both not yet been required to enter pleas to their charges of murder.

Police attend an incident at a house on Ruthven St, Friday, December 24, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

During the brief mention Ms Richards’ solicitor Nathan Bouchier told the court that he was in receipt of funding from Legal Aid Queensland to now consider the extensive amount of material that had been disclosed by police prosecutions in their brief of evidence.

Mr Bouchier said that a “significant number” of statements were still outstanding, including a pathologist report that would detail Mr Hegarty’s cause of death.

Police prosecutor Anita Page said the arresting officer in charge of the matter was attempting to follow up on the outstanding material as well as a DNA report that was still being compiled.

Acting magistrate Rowan Silva adjourned the matter to November 3, with Ms Richards remanded to remain in custody.