Court date set for Strudwicks.
THE District Court has made a decision on the trial date for Sharon Strudwick, 47, and her son, James, in relation to allegedly disposing of gun cartridges following the shooting death of Senior Constable David Rixon just over a year ago.
The Strudwicks, of Tamworth, who participated in a call over yesterday in Sydney to decide when their trials would commence, will appear before Tamworth District Court on Monday, November 25.
On February 21, Tamworth District Court knocked back an application for a change-of-venue argument from Sharon Strudwick.
Strudwick would not have had representation if the hearing was held in Tamworth, said Richard Wilson, defence counsel for James Strudwick.
Ms Strudwick was charged with accessory to murder after the fact for the killing on March 2 last year, in which Senior Constable Rixon, 40, was shot after pulling over an allegedly disqualified driver for a random breath-test.
The driver, Michael Allan Jacobs, 48, pleaded not guilty to the senior constable’s murder when he appeared during an arraignment at the NSW Supreme Court on November 7.
In September, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charge of accessory after the fact of murder against Strudwick and her son, but replaced it with an additional charge of acting to pervert the course of justice.
The latest charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, and is still an indictable offence and has to be heard in a supreme or district court.
Both Strudwick and her son are also facing a second charge of hinder discovery evidence, another serious, indictable offence.
Following an application from Jacobs’ lawyers on November 7 during the Supreme Court hearing, Jacobs’ trial will be held in Sydney in June this year, rather than in Tamworth.
