Men accused of savage Ruthven Street murder to stand trial in Toowoomba

Two men accused of brutally beating a 53-year-old man and leaving him to die in bed will stand trial for murder.

Aaron John Leslie Bunt and William John Currey have been charged with the murder of 53-year-old Len Andrew Hegarty, while Debbie Jane Richards has been charged with manslaughter.

One of two men accused of brutally beating a North Toowoomba man to death allegedly took him into bed and told his housemate not to call for help, a court has heard.

Aaron John Leslie Bunt, 30, and William John Currey, 33, faced a committal hearing in Toowoomba Magistrates Court accused of murdering Mr Bunt’s former housemate 53-year-old Len Andrew Hagerty on Christmas Eve in 2021.

Police claimed Mr Hagerty died after being beaten by the two men in a Ruthven Street home he shared with Mr Bunt, to which Mr Currey was visiting.

A third person, Mr Bunt’s partner and fellow housemate Debbie Jane Richards, was charged with manslaughter in relation to Mr Hegarty’s death but was not a part of proceedings.

The court heard testimony from a witness, who claimed to have been at the home at the time of the alleged attack.

Despite initially telling police otherwise, the man told the court he had only witnessed the aftermath of the alleged incident.

“(You told police) ‘Andrew mumbled I’m alright but he did not sound good’, is that true,” Mr Currey’s barrister Isaac Munsie asked the man.

“Yes,” he replied.

“It was like he was there but not there, he was not very responsive,” Mr Munsie read from the witness statement.

“Deb got Andrew’s hands, and Aaron had his feet, they picked him up and carried him to the mattress in his bedroom,” Mr Munsie read, to which the witness nodded yes.

The witness also claimed an Aboriginal man told him not to call triple-0 and took his phone; later, he said, Mr Bunt and Ms Richards told him not to call for help.

While Mr Currey is an Indigenous man, the witness was unclear whether the man he referred to was Mr Currey.

When questioned by Mr Bunt’s barrister Stephen Kissick and Mr Munsie, the witness contradicted multiple statements made to police, denied seeing Mr Hegarty be assaulted and was unable to recall alleged conversations between himself and the co-accused.

“There was so much going on,” he said.

A neighbour testified he believed Mr Bunt was a “narcissistic” and “violent” man while their landlord told the court of an alleged fight between Mr Bunt and Ms Richards a short time before Mr Hegarty’s death.

“They were on the footpath … Aaron was punching Deb, I also saw Deb hit back,” he said.

“It was just on for the young and old.

“She was pregnant … I took more note of him hitting her.”

An acquaintance of Mr Hegarty also alleged he had spoken to her regarding issues with Mr Bunt and Ms Richards in the days leading up to his death.

“I asked him how things are living (at the house) he told me things aren’t going well,” she said.

“He told me he’s feeling uncomfortable and that he’s being hassled and bullied a lot.”

Magistrate Mark Howden committed both men to stand trial for murder in the Supreme Court, asserting, on initial inspection, there was sufficient evidence to meet the requirements of a trial.

Mr Currey and Mr Bunt were remanded in custody and were not called upon to enter pleas to their murder charges.

Both men will have lesser charges mentioned in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on January 20, 2025.