Fresh bid to reopen stabbing inquest

THE family of a man killed in the Alva Beach double stabbing will formally request the inquest into their deaths be reopened.

The deaths of Thomas Davy and Corey Christensen were analysed in a coronial inquest in 2020, uncovering a raft of police failures, differing accounts of what unfolded, and the final moments before both were stabbed by Dean Webber in 2018. During the inquest, key witness Mr Webber was excused from giving verbal evidence in court, and eventually excused from giving evidence altogether.

While his barrister cited mental-health issues, the families of both men were outraged by the decisions.

The legal teams for the family of Thomas Davy will next week write to the Queensland Coroner’s Office to request the inquest be reopened. Heather Davy, mother to Mr Davy, said they were prepared to go through another inquest in order to get all their answers.

“The families aren’t happy with how the inquest was conducted,” she said. “We haven’t had the right to a judge and there has been no conclusion.”

In 2020, Coroner Jane Bentley ruled Mr Webber could give his evidence to the inquest in writing.

But the families of Mr Christensen and Mr Davy – who wanted Mr Webber to give oral evidence – applied to the Supreme Court for a judicial review of that decision, which was dismissed in March last year.

Ms Bentley again made directions for Mr Webber to provide written evidence, but Mr Davy’s family’s lawyer requested Mr Webber undergo testing by a court-appointed psychiatrist.

The request will come four years after the deaths of Mr Davy and Mr Christensen, and two years after the initial inquest was conducted in Cairns.