Police ‘swooped quickly’ on Ballarat murder accused
Emily Woods |
A man accused of killing a young woman in western Victoria has faced court where his lawyer claimed police “swooped very quickly” on him and flagged he may apply for bail.
Lachlan Young, 21, was brought into the dock at Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning flanked by two custody officers.
He was charged with murder on Monday after the body of Hannah McGuire was found in a burnt out car at Scarsdale, about 25km south of Ballarat.
Emergency services were called to a vehicle on fire in bushland on April 5, where they found the 23-year-old Clunes woman’s remains.
A police prosecutor said there were family members in court, and crying could be heard as the case was called.
He asked for 16 weeks to gather evidence before handing it over to the defence, however Young’s lawyer opposed this time frame.
“Defence have been given nothing by police,” defence lawyer Crystal Caruana told the court.
“All the information we have is being received from the media at this stage and it would appear as though police have swooped very quickly in this matter.”
“It would be assumed that there is enough evidence against Mr Young to charge him with murder.”
She flagged Young could apply for bail in the Supreme Court, but needed this evidence to do so.
The prosecutor said there were multiple crime scenes to be analysed along with CCTV, DNA evidence and forensic analysis.
This included deleted CCTV material, which police needed to recover and re-examine, he said.
“There is some complexity to it, obviously, given the nature of the investigation,” he said.
Magistrate Guillaume Bailin agreed with the prosecutor and ordered police hand over the brief by July 29.
Ms Caruana said it was Young’s first time in custody and he was suffering from declining mental health.
He will be seen by a nurse in custody for a medication and mental health review.
Young will return to court for a committal mention on September 19.
Police have alleged Young knew Ms McGuire.
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AAP
