A MAGISTRATE has refused a request to allow witnesses to be cross-examined in the case of a Tamworth mother accused of conspiring to murder the alleged victim of a robbery.
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Solicitors for Cindy Chomel lodged a Section 91/93 application in Tamworth Local Court, to call three witnesses, including a detective, to cross-examine them on evidence in their statements to police.
Magistrate Roger Prowse said “exceptional reasons” were needed for witnesses to be cross-examined in a committal hearing in the local court, but he found the defence’s submissions were “without foundation and do not have substance”.
“I can’t see that Ms Chomel’s lawyers have made out any reasons, let alone substantial reasons,” he told the court.
“The grounds relied upon ... appear to be reasons that you would turn to when you can’t think of anything else.”
An agent solicitor said she had no instructions to proceed with, following the application’s dismissal, and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was unable to tender a brief of evidence, before Mr Prowse adjourned the case for committal in May.
Chomel, who appeared via video link in court, remains in custody at Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre in Sydney.
She is charged with solicit to murder, supplying drugs, conducting a drug house, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, and dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
Detectives allege Chomel was planning to organise the murder of a man who had been the alleged victim of a robbery in Susanne St, Tamworth, on August 31.
The charges were triggered after Strike Force Mulholland was set up to investigate the alleged supply of drugs and guns in the Tamworth area, and culminated in raids on six homes in Tamworth in early September, where drugs, suspected stolen goods and weapons were seized.
The 44-year-old is yet to enter a plea to five charges, after she was arrested by Strike Force Mulholland detectives in September.
Charges were dropped by the DPP in March against Chomel’s two sons after they were charged with conspiring to interfere with a witness.
Earlier this month, Jake Field, Chomel’s third son, pleaded guilty to using an offensive weapon to commit an indictable offence on August 31 last year, before charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon were withdrawn.
