Emergency services rushed to a small brick home in Binnaway,in the state’s Central West,and found a nine-month-old girl with fatal injuries in July 2018.
The X Factor star Mitchell Callaway,left,is accused of murdering a baby girl in 2018;he was arrested last year,top right;police search a property in Binnaway.Sydney Morning Herald
The girl died in Coonabarabran Hospital,where staff called in NSW Police detectives.
It took police five years to lay a charge,but in June last year,Mitchell Callaway,38,was formally accused of the girl’s murder.
Callaway was arrested near Bowraville,in the north of NSW,where he now lives with his parents.
The star ofThe X-Factor’s third season was released on bail in December 2023 on a $600,000 surety and ordered to report to the police station at nearby Macksville each day.
His solicitor,Stephen Dickens,appeared in the NSW Supreme Court seeking permission for Callaway to report to police over the phone for three days each week.
Dickens told the court Callaway had cancer,but it was in remission.
“There is evidence[Callaway] has been subjected to some abuse while going daily to town to comply with the current reporting,” Justice Tim Faulkner said on Friday.
Prosecutors warned witnesses in the case held “significant concerns” for their personal safety if Callaway’s reporting conditions were scaled back.
“They have fear and concern that Mr Callaway is going to place them at harm – their concern[is] some form of retribution or confrontation from him,” the Crown prosecutor told the court.
Dickens argued there was no evidence Callaway knew where the witnesses lived.
Ultimately,the judge allowed Callaway to report every other day using his parents’ landline telephone,concluding it was not riskier than forcing him to make daily trips to Macksville police station.
Callaway did not appear in court for the hearing.
The arrest of the former star came after detectives returned to the Binnaway home in May 2023,five years after the alleged murder,with metal detectors and combed through the property on hands and knees.
Images of Callaway’s arrest showed him in a black hoodie and handcuffs,being led from the Bowraville home.
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