KILL CHARGE OVER BLAZE
Toowoomba man remains silent during first court appearance
ACCUSED killer Phillip Alastair Harris was ushered into a packed Toowoomba Magistrates Court flanked by three police officers when making his first court appearance since being charged with murder, arson and misconduct with a corpse.
Dressed in watch-house issue greens, the 29-year-old sat expressionless in the dock as police prosecutor Eddie Fraser asked that the prisoner’s handcuffs remain on, in contrast to usual court practice, due to the seriousness of the charges.
Harris was not required to enter any pleas and did not respond to the charges which arose from the death of a 63-year-old man whose remains were found by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services officers called to extinguish a house fire in Rivett St,
South Toowoomba, on Sunday night.
Harris was remanded in custody with the case adjourned to February next year.
peter.hardwick@thechronicle.com.au
A 29-YEAR-OLD Toowoomba man charged with murder arising from the death of a man found after a house fire in the city Sunday night has been remanded in custody.
Phillip Alastair Harris appeared briefly in Toowoomba Magistrates Court yesterday when he was formally charged with murder, arson, misconduct with a corpse by interfering, serious animal cruelty, and entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence, and one count of serious assault of police who claim he head butted a policeman when arrested.
Ordinarily, it is the practice of Toowoomba magistrates that prisoners in the court dock have their handcuffs removed.
However, police prosecutor Eddie Fraser, citing the seriousness of the charges, asked that Harris’ handcuffs remain on him.
Magistrate Graham Lee acceded to the request. Harris was not required to enter any pleas to the charges that arose from the discovery of the remains of 63-year-old Peter John Weaver, which were found inside a burnt-out Rivett St home in South Toowoomba on Sunday evening.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services officers searching the home after the fire was extinguished also found the remains of a dog.
Harris sat quietly in the dock dressed in watch houseissue greens and expressionless as he was formally charged.
His defence lawyer Joe McConnell, of Toowoomba legal firm MacDonald Law, told the court a full brief of evidence from police would be required.
Because the Magistrates Court has no jurisdiction to grant bail to a defendant charged with murder, no application for bail was made.
The Supreme Court is the only court with jurisdiction to grant bail on a charge of murder.
There being no Supreme Court sittings in Toowoomba until February next year, any bail application before then would have to be taken to Brisbane.
No particulars of the case were aired in court yesterday.
Magistrate Lee remanded Harris in custody and adjourned the case for mention back in the same court on February 18 and excused Harris’ appearance on that date.
peter.hardwick@thechronicle.com.au