A teenager charged over the bashing of a Dee Why man that left him in a coma has been denied bail after prosecutors flagged phone call evidence they say contains admissions from the accused.
Joseph Woodward, 18, appeared before Manly Local Court today, 26 August, via audio-visual link from custody, where his lawyers applied for bail on the grounds that the prosecution’s evidence was too weak to place him at the scene.
Woodward has pleaded not guilty to assault over the attack on a 47-year-old man at James Meehan Reserve, Dee Why, on 29 May.
According to the police fact sheet, the victim had approached a group of youths near his home to ask them to quieten down when he was struck on the back of the head with a brick. He suffered a broken eye socket and a brain injury, and was placed in an induced coma at Royal North Shore Hospital. Manly Observer understands the man has since returned home and recently spoke at a community safety forum near the site of the attack.
In court, the defence argued the prosecution’s case relied on DNA evidence that couldn’t be dated. Woodward’s DNA was found on a pair of glasses at the scene, alongside DNA from the victim, though the glasses didn’t belong to either of them. Because investigators couldn’t determine how long the DNA had been on the glasses, the defence said it didn’t prove Woodward was there on the night of the assault. A witness placed him near the Meriton shops that night, but only from a distance, as he walked to catch a bus. The victim could not identify his attacker.
In response, prosecutors revealed they held more than two hours of phone recordings in which they allege Woodward makes admissions about the attack, including “it’s about time they got me for this, mum let the coppers in” and “maximum I can get is two years.” This material had not yet been formally submitted to the court.
Judge Daniel Reiss denied the bail application, citing Woodward’s history of breaching bail conditions, and the newly flagged phone evidence.
Woodward has been in custody since June and had not previously applied for bail for unknown reasons. He also faces unrelated charges of being a passenger in a stolen vehicle and making transactions on a stolen debit card earlier this year.
He will next appear in Manly Local Court via AVL on 16 September.
