The State Coroner has ruled that the privilege against self-incrimination can be overridden in the inquest of missing presumed murdered backpacker Tony Jones.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
State Coroner Terry Ryan said he found that the privilege against self-incrimination can be overridden in an inquiry under section 10 of the Coroners Act 1958.
The findings could impact whether at least two witnesses will be forced to answer questions, however Coroner Ryan is yet to decide whether to exercise that power.
Coroner Ryan said the issue arose in the context of a question to a witness who admitted that he had consumed a drug prior to attending to give evidence.
“The witness was subsequently asked what drug was taken by him,” Coroner Ryan said.
The witness was subsequently asked what drug was taken by him
- Coroner Terry Ryan
“He claimed privilege in relation to answering the question on the basis that his answer might incriminate him.”
Coroner Ryan said the issue is of particular importance to witnesses summoned to appear at Tony Jones’s inquest and who are alleged by other witnesses to have been involved in the death of a person at Hughenden at a time that may coincide with Mr Jones’ disappearance.
Mr Jones, then 20, was last seen in November 1982, travelling with his brother in North Queensland.
On November 3, 1982 he telephoned his parents and girlfriend to tell them he was planning to hitchhike from Townsville to Mount Isa where he would meet his brother, who had already cycled to Isa, on their way back to Perth.
Mr Jones’s mother reported him as a missing person in mid-November however, his suspected death was not reported to the coroner until 1997.
An inquiry lasted from August 1998 to February 2002 which found Mr Jones was dead, and that he died on or around November 3, 1982 at the hands of a person or persons unknown.
The coroner Fisher also recommended three lines of inquiry be pursued.
The Attorney-General reopened the inquest in 2010.
The current scope is that of a missing person’s inquiry.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
