R v Crowther-Wilkinson & Cowie [2002] NSWSC 1207

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v Crowther-Wilkinson & Cowie [2002] NSWSC 1207 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70096/01; 70033/02 HEARING DATE(S) : 01/11/02 JUDGMENT DATE : 17 December 2002

Regina PARTIES : Simon Crowther-Wilkinson James Cowie JUDGMENT OF : Hidden J at 1

T Hoyle - Crown COUNSEL : P Byrne SC - Crowther-Wilkinson B Rigg - Cowie SE O'Connor - Crown SOLICITORS : David Giddy & Associates - Crowther-Wilkinson Watsons - Cowie CATCHWORDS : CRIMINAL LAW: joint trial of two accused - application by one for separate trial - whether prejudice from nature of evidence against other accused and ability of other accused to raise character. R v Domincan & Thurgar (1989) 43 A Crim R 24 CASES CITED : R v Middis (SC 27.3.91 unreported) R v Georgiou [1999] NSW CCA 125 Webb and Hay v The Queen (1993-4) 181 CLR 41 DECISION : Application refused.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

HIDDEN J

Tuesday, 17 December, 2002

70096/01 – REGINA v Simon CROWTHER-WILKINSON 70033/02 – REGINA v James COWIE

JUDGMENT 1 HIS HONOUR: Simon Crowther-Wilkinson (to whom I shall refer simply as Mr Wilkinson) and James Cowie are jointly charged with murder. The deceased and Mr Wilkinson were partners in a business known as Excell Security, and Mr Cowie was an employee of the business. It is the Crown case that the deceased was shot on the night of 6 June, 2000 or in the early hours of the following morning, and his body was weighed down with chains and deposited into the Hawkesbury River in the Brooklyn area. The Crown alleges that both accused were involved in the killing, the case against each of them being entirely circumstantial. 2 In outline, the Crown case is as follows: