THE brother of Ballarat axe murderer Darren Wilson is accused of attempting to interfere with key witnesses in his sibling’s Supreme Court trial, a court heard on Thursday.
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Edward Wilson, 38, allegedly searched names of witnesses on Facebook after fielding a number of phone calls from his brother, who allegedly implored him to “track down witnesses and take things further”.
The Ballarat Magistrates Court heard Wilson was allegedly present when his mother Shirley had an in-person conversation with Timothy O’Brien’s stepfather and key trial witness, Peter Williams, ahead of the trial.
Wilson has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Crown prosecutor Raelene Maxwell told the court during Wilson’s bail application that records of numerous phone calls between Darren Wilson, while he was in prison, and his brother would form part of the Crown case against Wilson.
Ms Maxwell said the phone calls “requested certain tasks” in relation to interfering with witnesses.
Wilson’s alleged offending occurred between November 7, 2013, and February 13.
Defence lawyer James Westmore said while Wilson’s brother urged him to track down witnesses there was no evidence his client agreed to it.
Mr Westmore said the Crown case was a “little premature”, given a part of the evidence they were relying upon was a Facebook search.
He said his client could spend more than one year in custody awaiting the resolution of a prosecution case, which he felt, wasn’t strong.
Ms Maxwell said Wilson was bailed in March but stopped reporting to police shortly after and police eventually tracked him down on October 9.
In opposing Wilson’s bail, Ms Maxwell said the accused had an extensive history of failing to obey court orders.
Magistrate Louis Hill granted Wilson bail, saying his risk could be managed with strict reporting conditions.
A $5000 surety was also put up by Wilson’s parents.
Wilson will reappear for a committal mention hearing on March 10.