Central Desert councillor Clifford Tilmouth one of three charged with Central Australian cattle theft
A sitting councillor charged with an attempted Central Australian cattle duffing has appeared in court – and they had another Red Centre bigwig come down to support them too.
One of three men charged with an attempted duffing of 400 cows in Central Australia is a current sitting councillor, who’s been supported in court by the chair of a large not-for-profit.
Central Desert Regional Council councillor Clifford Tilmouth, 50, appeared in Alice Springs Local Court on Tuesday to face one count of theft, after being charged by police in the beginning of October.
Cr Tilmouth was recently sworn back into his position at the end of September, and has been charged alongside Benedict Bird, 37, and Colin Lindsay Watson, 65.
The trio were all charged with theft months after police “discovered several individuals in possession of two loaded cattle trucks” but the “group was unable to provide the necessary documentation for transporting the cattle,” an NT Police spokesman said in August.
The alleged attempted duffing involved 400 cows, police previously said, but little detail of the alleged offending was mentioned when Mr Tilmouth and Mr Bird’s matters were heard.
Mr Bird appeared in court on Tuesday alongside Mr Tilmouth, with not-for-profit Children’s Ground chair William Tilmouth also observed in the court with them when the pair’s matter was called.
In December last year, Children’s Ground announced a five year $9.57 million dollar partnership with the Goodman Foundation.
There is no suggestion the not-for-profit, the partnership, or the charity chair are in any way connected to the alleged cattle duffing, nor any suggestion of wrongdoing on their part.
Mr Watson did not appear in court, but was represented by lawyer Gregs Betts, with his matter heard first.
Lawyers Daniel Gorry and Finbar Piper represented Mr Bird and Cr Tilmouth, with Mr Gorry telling the court the matter contained an “enormous” brief.
“There’s hours and hours of video statements,” Mr Gorry said.
No pleas were entered on Tuesday before Judge Anthony Hopkins, who adjourned Mr Watson’s matter to December 2.
Cr Tilmouth’s and Mr Bird’s matters were adjourned to February 17.
Originally published as Central Desert councillor Clifford Tilmouth one of three charged with Central Australian cattle theft
