Major cases to follow in Tasmania’s courts in 2020

Sue Neill-Fraser’s bid for freedom, Dunalley bushfires class action, the Hobart Rivulet collapse and high-profile murder cases top the list of a busy year in court, writes AMBER WILSON.

Tasmania’s justice system is facing a huge year with a large number of major trials. Here are some of the most significant cases to keep an eye out for in 2020.

SUE NEILL-FRASER MURDER APPEAL

Convicted murderer Sue Neill-Fraser is expected to make her second – and possibly final – bid for freedom in a two-week appeal hearing scheduled for May. The 65-year-old is serving a 23-year jail sentence for killing her partner Bob Chappell on board their yacht Four Winds on Australia Day 2009. Mr Chappell’s body has never been found, but Neill-Fraser claims there is “fresh and compelling evidence” proving her innocence.

Sue Neill-Fraser arrives at the Supreme Court in Launceston. Picture: BRUCE MOUNSTER

DUNALLEY BUSHFIRE CLASS ACTION

A whopping 445 people have joined forces in a class action against two people they believe caused the January 2013 Dunalley bushfire. The fortnight-long blaze destroyed 193 homes and 186 other properties, including the town’s school and police station. The litigants claim a man and a woman were negligent by failing to properly extinguish a campfire in a tree-stump, igniting 25,000 hectares of land.

Sifting through the rubble of a destroyed property after the 2013 Dunalley bushfire.

DEATH OF JARROD LEIGH TURNER

Jarrod Leigh Turner, a Gagebrook father of two, was found shot in the head and dumped on a roadside near Richmond in April 2019. Shannon James Duffy and Alani Pavalu Moekiola have both denied murdering the 22-year-old. Three other people, including a teenage girl, are also facing accessory charges over the alleged murder.

DEATH OF VERONICA CORSTORPHINE

Natalie Maher is due to return to court in 2020 over the alleged murder of her 71-year-old South Launceston mother Veronica Corstorphine in October 2019. She was extradited to Tasmania the following month after she was arrested at a Bunbury hotel. Police at the time said there were no obvious signs of injury and no weapons involved.

Deceased Mt Lyell miner Michael Welsh.

MT LYELL MINE DEATHS INQUEST

In January 2014, miner Michael Welsh died in a mud rush at the Mt Lyell copper mine. His death came just one month after employees Alistair Lucas and Craig Leeson died when the platform they were working on collapsed. A coronial inquest is due to resume in 2020, with an administrative hearing scheduled for January 24.

SPIRIT OF TASMANIA DEAD PONIES CASE

TT-Line has denied it breached animal welfare laws following the deaths of 16 polo ponies found dead after crossing the Bass Strait from Devonport. Professional polo player and float driver Andrew Williams has also denied wrongdoing over the deaths, along with fellow driver Thomas Martin. Mr Williams, his company Willo Polo and his employer Twynam Agricultural Group are also suing TT-Line for negligence, claiming $739,000 in losses.

An inquest will be held into the suicide death of Saeed Hassanloo.

INQUEST INTO DEATH OF SAEED HASSANLOO

Saeed Hassanloo, an Iranian asylum seeker, spent more than four years in detention before going on a 44-day hunger strike. The young man went missing in June 2016 after he arrived in Tasmania and was the subject of a police search, but had taken his own life. An inquest into his death will return to the Coroners court for an administrative hearing on April 2.

DEATH OF NELDA MAVIS EDWARDS

Former Hobart doctor Stephen John Edwards has denied murdering his mother Nelda Mavis, 88, in March 2016 by administering her with a drug. He has also denied – alongside his brother Robert David Edwards – of conspiring to obstruct the course of justice by providing false information after their mother’s death.

Fatally stabbed man Reid Ludwig.

DEATH OF REID LUDWIG

A 16-year-old Blackmans Bay boy has denied murdering Taroona father Reid Ludwig by stabbing him in front of his family in November 2019. Mr Ludwig, 41, died at the Royal Hobart Hospital after the alleged murder outside a petrol station. The high school student charged with his death is in custody and is due to reappear in court on February 3 ahead of the trial.

MARGARET OTTO MURDER APPEAL

Risdon Vale woman Margaret Otto was found guilty of the murder her tattoo artist husband Dwayne “Doc” Davies in May 2017, planning the murder with friend Bradley Scott Purkiss, who then shot and buried the victim. But Otto has appealed against the decision, saying the jury’s verdict was “unsafe and unsatisfactory”.

Deceased man Dwayne Robert Davies. Picture: INK ADDICTION

JOHN OLDFIELD NETTLETON, OVERSEAS CHILD SEX CHARGES

Tasmanian man John Oldfield Nettleton is due to plead over scores of overseas child sex allegations on January 20. The North-West man is charged with four counts of engaging in sexual intercourse with a child outside Australia, one of persistent sexual abuse of a child outside Australia, seven of procuring a child to engage in sexual activities, 21 counts of using a carriage service to transmit, publish and make child abuse material, and other offences.

INQUEST FINDINGS INTO VOULA DELIOS’ DEATH

Voula Delios, a 68-year-old North Hobart grocery shopkeeper, was stabbed to death by Daryl Royston Wayne Cook in July 2016. Cook, who had been released from prison the day before and was a diagnosed schizophrenic, was found not guilty of murder on grounds of insanity. Coroner Simon Cooper examined Cook’s management while in custody and circumstances surrounding his release. Mr Cooper is expected to release his findings this year.

A temporary plaque to remember the late Voula Delios. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

MARK RODNEY JONES MURDER APPEAL

Convicted murderer Mark Rodney Jones was already a convicted rapist when he waterboarded and suffocated Launceston man Bradley Breward on New Year’s Day 2017. He’s now appealing against his 22-year jail sentence “on the basis that it is manifestly excessive” – although he can’t afford the legal fees. The matter will return to the Supreme Court of Tasmania for an administrative hearing on February 4.

Mark Rodney Jones pictured competing in a body building contest. Jones was convicted of murdering Bradley Breward. Picture: RX MUSCLE

DARREN WARD GALE MURDER APPEAL

Darren Ward Gale admits he cut off his flatmate’s head and threw it off a bridge during November 2016. But Gale has appealed against his murder conviction, saying that while he admits beheading 58-year-old Noel Joseph Ingham, he did so after the West Ulverstone man was already dead – by hitting his head on a fish tank.

HOBART RIVULET COLLAPSE CASE

Myer, the Cat & Fiddle Arcade and other Hobart businesses are seeking more than $15.5 million in damages from building and engineering firms after the 2016 Hobart Rivulet collapse, which flooded nearby shops with about 700 million litres of water. The collapse occurred following Myer’s rebuild after it was destroyed by fire.

Robert Charles Mansell, 42, who disappeared while fishing off Flinders Island in August 2015. Picture: SUPPLIED

INQUEST INTO DEATH OF ROBERT CHARLES MANSELL

Robert Charles Mansell, 42, disappeared off Flinders Island in August 2015 while fishing with his friend, Joshua Kennedy. An inquest held last year investigated the circumstances of his death. Mr Kennedy told the inquest he tried to rescue his friend as he attempted to retrieve a fishing lure, and denied pushing him into the sea. The inquest was adjourned for final submissions.