Brendon Thomas Liddy pleads not guilty to Palumpa driving dangerously causing death charge

When a chaotic car crash left a group of boys with injuries, a remote town descended into “screaming and yelling”, a courtroom has been told by one of the first men on the scene.

Brendon Thomas Liddy (pictured) has faced his first day of trial.

DAY FOUR - June 18, 12pm: The town of Palumpa descended into “screaming and yelling” following a fatal crash which killed a 16 year-old, a jury has been told by a man who recalled the moment he arrived at the crash site.

Brendon Liddy appeared in court after pleading not guilty to driving dangerously causing death and failing to notify a representative of the police force after the incident following a fatal crash near Palumpa in December 2022.

Day four of the trial started with Aboriginal Liaison Officer Greg Munar giving evidence.

Mr Munar recalled the moment he arrived on the crash site alongside fellow ALO Willy Gaden.

Mr Munar said he saw a boy, his “nephew”, “lying down” on the road, with others standing around him.

Mr Munar said did not initially see Mr Liddy, who emerged from the bushes a short time later. According to Mr Munar, Mr Liddy clung onto Mr Munar’s leg as he was assaulted by other survivors, before he was chased back into the scrub with a tomahawk.

Asked what occurred in the town thereafter, Mr Munar said the remote community descended into “screaming and yelling”, with locals gathered around the medical clinic.

The emergency response to the crash was coordinated from Wadeye, the court heard. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The courtroom also heard evidence from the trial’s first police witness, a senior sergeant, who coordinated a response to the crash from Wadeye before travelling to the town himself.

The sergeant said he recalled a “big group” of people surrounding the clinic while other officers had been tasked to preserve the crash site.

A second police officer, who personally arrested Mr Liddy, told the courtroom he and three other officers experienced difficulties trying to locate Mr Liddy.

After entering a home they believed he was in, the officer said he found Mr Liddy with facial injuries.

“I think he had an injury to his eye,” he said.

Mr Liddy was subsequently taken to Wadeye for further medical treatment.

Power station worker Glenn Ross told the courtroom he remembered seeing Mr Liddy before authorities found him.

Mr Ross said he was “cooking a feed” when his dogs started barking and alerted him to Mr Liddy standing near his property.

Defence lawyer Beth Wild put to Mr Ross that her client “wanted your help” but Mr Ross instead told him to “f—k off”.

Mr Ross said he didn’t know what Mr Liddy wanted, but maintained he didn’t want to get involved.

Police at Moyle River crossing between Peppimenarti and Palumpa. Picture: NT Police

On Thursday afternoon, Mr Liddy took the stand for the first time.

He told the courtroom he willingly gave his car keys before going back to his bedroom.

According to the accused, he remained there until the door was kicked open and “about six boys” stormed into the room and assaulted him. He claimed he was kicked, punched and hit in the back of the head with an axe before he retreated into a walk-in wardrobe with his partner and child.

The courtroom heard that during the attack, someone yelled “the brakes didn’t work”.

Mr Liddy said other men were yelling into the house, accusing him of being the driver.

“I was trying to tell them I (didn’t) drive,” he told the jury.

“But they couldn’t hear because everyone else was yelling.”

When the chaos “died down”, Mr Liddy said he instructed his partner to take his son next door, while he ran to Glenn Ross’ house for help.

Mr Liddy said he thought Mr Ross “could help” him, but was instead told to “f—k off”.

Prosecutor Daniel Warner-Collins pressed Mr Liddy on why he went to Palumpa in the first place when his bail conditions at the time prohibited him from going there.

Mr Liddy said his family needed to stock up on his food and that his child “was sick”. He also said he bought alcohol from “the black market” in Palumpa the night before the crash and didn’t want his partner to see him drinking.

Mr Warner-Collins then asked why he would hand an “important asset” into the hands of people who were known as “trouble”.

“So you didn’t want anyone knowing you were in Palumpa, you wanted to get your groceries and get out of there,” Mr Warner-Collins said.

“Yet you were okay lending your car to (these) troublemakers to go and get a stolen car – that was fine?”

Asked if letting someone borrow the car was a “big deal”, Mr Liddy said “no”.

The trial returns to court on Friday.

‘Pay back’: Witness went after accused with axe, court hears

DAY THREE - June 18, 1pm: A man who claims to have chased Brendon Liddy with an axe following the fatal crash wanted “pay back” for his brother’s death, the jury had been told.

Brendon Liddy appeared in court after pleading not guilty to driving dangerously causing death and failing to notify a representative of the police force after the incident following a fatal crash near Palumpa in December 2022.

On day three of the trial, witness Christopher Namala, 23, told the courtroom the boys in the Ute tray were thrown from the vehicle because Mr Liddy was “drunk and “driving fast”, despite being told to slow down.

When he saw the casualty toll in the aftermath of the crash, Mr Namala claimed he became angry, grabbed an axe from the Ute and chased a drunk Mr Liddy into the bush.

It was heard Mr Namala and a group went to the residence where Mr Liddy and his partner, Jodie Munar, were.

“I was telling my family to come with me, to kill him,” he told the courtroom.

“For pay back – black people know pay back, not like white people.”

Upon further cross examination, Mr Namala clarified he meant to “hurt” Mr Liddy and not literally kill him.

Defence lawyer Beth Wild pressed Mr Namala on his whereabouts following the crash and whether he waited for an ambulance to arrive.

Mr Namala said he phoned for help through other family members before he left the scene.

After Mr Namala gave his evidence, two more crash survivors, who are both minors, were brought before the court.

Ms Wild asked the first minor if his account had been manufactured.

“Your family has told you to say that it was Brandon to protect Christopher, is that true?” she asked.

“No,” the boy replied.

The minor said Mr Liddy drove the vehicle and that Mr Namala wanted the car to be preserved for evidence.

“Do you remember Christopher saying ‘hey boys, don’t set the car on fire because it might be evidence?” Ms Wild asked.

“Yeah I heard him say that,” he replied.

The second minor, who said he was knocked unconscious from the crash, also claimed Mr Liddy drove the vehicle.

After lunch, wife and husband Jeannette and Brian Cook gave evidence.

The married couple both told the courtroom that Mr Liddy and Jodie Munar came to their home as guests and proceeded to drink rum and coke.

When a group of boys asked to use Mr Liddy’s Ute, he initially refused, according to Mrs Cook.

However, Mrs Cook claims Mr Liddy did eventually climb into the driver’s seat with a drink in hand.

Ms Wild asked the witness why she allowed her son to climb onto a Ute being driven by a drunk driver, to which Ms Cook said she did tell her son to “sit properly” on the back.

The ute's route through Palumpa (pictured) was illustrated to the courtroom.

Former Aboriginal Liaison Officer Willy Gaden, told the courtroom he and a fellow officer were working in Palumpa the day of the incident.

Mr Gaden, 32, said he was out the front of a house when he saw Ute “speeding” past with boys in the tray.

Using a marker and pen, Mr Gaden illustrated to the courtroom his recollection of where he saw the vehicle and where it drove to.

Asked who was in the vehicle, Mr Gaden said he wasn’t “too sure” what their names were, however he maintained the driver was a “half-caste” man he “didn’t know”.

“I don’t know how I can say it, but… he was Aboriginal, like half-Aboriginal,” he said.

When they became aware of the accident, Mr Gaden said he and his partner “rushed to the scene”.

When they arrived, Mr Gaden said he saw Mr Liddy “trying to help” a boy who was lying on the bitumen.

Mr Liddy then “ran off” into the bush, he said.

“Did you see him trying to help with your own eyes?” Mr Wild asked.

“He was just standing there, watching him,” Mr Gaden said.

“He was just standing there... I don’t know what he was thinking… I can’t read people's’ mind.”

Ms Wild pressed further.

“Mr Gaden, you never saw a man with light skin driving that car earlier that day,” she said.

“I saw him,” Mr Gaden maintained.

The trial continues Thursday morning.

‘You’re lying’: Testimonies on fatal crash trial

DAY TWO - June 17: A man accused of crashing a vehicle which killed a 16 year-old boy was bashed by up to fifteen men, a jury has heard, in a day two trial filled with conflicting accounts around the fateful day.

Brendon Liddy appeared in court after pleading not guilty to driving dangerously causing death and failing to notify a representative of the police force after the incident following a fatal crash near Palumpa in December 2022.

The second day of an expected five-day trial was dominated by the testimonies of multiple witnesses – two of whom survived the crash.

The day started with Jodie Munar, the partner of the accused, Brendon Liddy, who gave her account.

Ms Munar, who shares three children with Mr Liddy, said her partner was sick and by her side at a Palumpa residence on the day of the crash.

She maintained Mr Liddy did not drink alcohol on the day, nor did he get behind the wheel of the car.

She told the court she found out about the crash through a phone call, which was followed 10 minutes later by an angry mob coming to their residence with machetes, axes and knives.

Ms Munar said up to fifteen people started assaulting Mr Liddy, who she said had been in his bedroom.

Crown Prosecutor Daniel Warner-Collins asked if Ms Munar would be left alone with the kids if Mr Liddy went to jail — to which she did not respond.

She said she was worried about him going to jail.

Mr Warner-Collins asked if Ms Munar had been told to “say these things” by Mr Liddy, which she denied.

He also questioned Ms Munar’s claim that she had called police to help her and Mr Liddy from the angry mob.

“Do you know that when you call the police there’s a record?” he asked.

It was heard Mr Liddy ran back to Palumpa (pictured) after the crash.

Ms Munar did not respond.

A second witness, a 17-year-old boy who survived the crash, said Mr Liddy was drunk and drove the vehicle.

The boy said Mr Liddy “ran” from the crash site back to Palumpa while others were “trying to wake up” the 16-year-old who later died.

The witness said a boy named “Stuart” lit the car on fire after the incident – a claim defence lawyer Beth Wild said was “made up”.

“It wasn’t ‘Stuart’ was it?” Ms Wild said.

“You don’t want to tell us who that person is because you don’t want to get them in trouble.”

Ms Wild put to the teenager that he was covering up for someone else.

“You’re lying because you don’t want (your relative) to get in trouble, is that true?” she stated.

“You’re not telling the true story about who was driving.”

Through a translator, the boy’s only response was “Brandon”.

The third witness, a “brother” of the deceased, also told the court Mr Liddy was drinking rum and coke while behind the wheel.

“I saw it with my own eyes,” he said.

Again, Ms Wild questioned who was behind the wheel.

“You’re lying to protect your (relative) is that true?” she asked.

“No, Brendon Liddy was driving,” he said.

The trial continues.

Trial begins for man accused of crashing, killing teenager

DAY ONE - 16 June: A Territory man accused of drunkenly crashing a ute causing the death of a 16 year-old boy has faced his first day of his trial in the NT Supreme Court.

On Monday, Brendon Liddy appeared in court after pleading not guilty to driving dangerously causing death and failing to notify a representative of the police force after the incident following a fatal crash near Palumpa in December 2022.

In his opening address, crown prosecutor Daniel Warner-Collins told the jury “a number of young boys” climbed into a Toyota Ute, with three members in the front and the rest in the tray.

Mr Warner-Collins said the driver was “driving dangerously”, clipped a signpost and oversteered to get back onto the road.

“This caused a number of boys in the tray (to) be thrown,” he said.

Mr Warner-Collins said he expected the crash survivors to give evidence Mr Liddy drove the vehicle. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

It was heard that after the vehicle “crashed into the scrub”, most of the boys “managed to escape with minor injuries”, except a 16 year-old boy who sustained life-threatening injuries before he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Mr Warner-Collins said he expected crash survivors, residents and the town’s Aboriginal Liaison Officers would say Mr Liddy was behind the wheel.

“(The boys) saw that he was intoxicated and yet they will ask him to take him for a drive,” Mr Warner-Collins said.

“I expect all of those boys will tell you that it was Brendon Liddy driving the car.”

However, while the defence agreed with “a few things” submitted by the crown, defence lawyer Beth Wild said there were “civilian witness” accounts which were “strenuously denied”.

“You might ask yourself if any of the witnesses might have a reason to lie to police to not know the truth,” she told the jury.

“And you might have to look very closely at the relationships involved with the deceased and the witnesses that are giving evidence.”

Only one witness was called to give evidence - a survivor of the crash who the court heard was sat in the front seat of the vehicle.

Through a translator, the witness maintained Mr Liddy was drunk and behind the wheel of the vehicle when the crash occurred.

During cross-examination, Ms Wild asked the witness if Mr Liddy had been assaulted at a residence after the crash.

“Did you see people kicking him while he was on the ground?” Ms Wild asked.

“Yes,” the witness said.

It was heard that after the crash, the ute had been moved and set alight by unknown persons when Mr Liddy was not in the location.

“Did you hear (another witness) tell ask those other fellas to burn the car?” Ms Wild asked.

“Yeah the other fellas burned the car,” the witness said.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Brendon Thomas Liddy pleads not guilty to Palumpa driving dangerously causing death charge