A COURT has been told the post-mortem report into last year's double murder in a housefire in Tamworth still hasn't been given to police nine months on.
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Richard George Sands did not appear in Tamworth Local Court on Wednesday, or his solicitor, when his charges were mentioned.
He's accused of murdering a woman and a child, and attempting to kill another woman and child in a housefire in Hillvue on October 17, last year.
Sands is yet to enter pleas to the charges but remains behind bars on remand on two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Much of the case cannot be reported for legal reasons.
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On Wednesday, police prosecutor Sergeant John Brissett said the brief of evidence in the case was still not compliant, with detectives still chasing statements.
"We seek a further six weeks," he said.
"There's still a post-mortem [report] outstanding."
Sergeant Brissett said a statement from a crime scene officer who has been on long-term sick leave was also still required. He said the officer was returning to work and expected the statement to be delivered in a matter of weeks.
In a letter from his Legal Aid solicitor to the court, the case was adjourned without opposition to the delays.
Ms Soars adjourned the case to September for a "brief compliance check" to see if the items have been served.
From there the case will be moved to the DPP who will confirm or amend any of the charges against the accused before the defence and Crown discuss the case at a conference.
"I'll mark Mr Sands as ... bail not applied for, refused," Ms Soars said.
A court order was continued on Wednesday which prohibits the publication of any information that identifies the woman and child who survived the fire, along with the two that died.
Ms Soars made the non-publication order earlier this year after the court told told the release of the details "would hamper the investigations".
Detectives allege Sands deliberately set fire to the home just before dawn, killing a woman, whose body was found in the front bedroom, and a young boy, whose remains were found at the back of the house.
The second woman and child survived the fire and were rushed to hospital for burns. The woman was later airlifted to a specialist unit in Sydney, having suffered burns to almost 80 per cent of her body.
The boy was released from hospital in the days after the fire.
Sands was arrested shortly after the fire and taken to Tamworth hospital for treatment for his burns. He was refused bail in an out-of-sessions bail hearing at Tamworth hospital a day after the fire. He's been in custody since.
On October 18, Sands was then moved to a Sydney hospital for specialist treatment before being transferred back into custody once he had recovered.
Sands was initially charged with two counts of murder of one woman and a child. The further attempted murder charges were laid in court in December, as a woman recovered in hospital from critical injuries suffered in the fire.