New date for Toyah Cordingley murder trial set
The retrial of Rajwinder Singh has been set after a jury could not decide whether the 40-year-old Innisfail nurse was guilty or not guilty of murdering a young woman on a beach near Cairns.
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The retrial of Rajwinder Singh has been set down for November 10, 2025, in the Cairns Supreme Court.
Mr Singh, 40, a former nurse from Innisfail, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Toyah Cordingley on October 21, 2018, at Wangetti Beach.
Mr Singh will be represented by a new barrister, and a Brisbane Justice Lincoln Crowley will be flown to Cairns to preside over the trial.
A three-week trial was run earlier this month, and ended with a hung jury after two and a half days of deliberations.
Mr Singh’s lawyer Nicholas Dore made a request to list the new trial in late February 2026 to enable them to instruct prominent King’s Counsel, Saul Holt.
Justice James Henry rejected this date, saying a retrial needed to be held as soon as practicable because of the impact on many people’s lives of the case, and the public interest in a “timely resolution”.
Justice Henry said the legalities and complexity of the case was “moderate” and did not necessarily require a “silk”.
He said a competent senior and junior criminal barrister could manage the case without any miscarriage of justice, and that seven months was sufficient time to review the original trial and instruct new counsel.
The case will be reviewed on June 19 so that Crown Prosecutor, Nathan Crane, and Mr Singh’s defence can raise any issues about jury selection.
Mr Singh did not appear in person or by videolink and no application was made for bail.
He was remanded in custody.
Ms Cordingley’s body was found buried under sand at Wangetti Beach on October 22, 2018, and her dog Indie was tied tightly to a tree nearby.
The Woree woman had gone to the beach the day before to walk her dog Indie.
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Originally published as New date for Toyah Cordingley murder trial set
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