Toyah Cordingley murder trial delayed

The trial of a man accused of murdering 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley on a north Queensland beach has been postponed just days before it was due to begin

The trial of a man accused of murdering 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley on a north Queensland beach has been postponed just days before it was due to start.

Rajwinder Singh was due to appear in the Cairns High Court before Judge James Henry from Monday.

But the proceedings were postponed until February during a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

The case was adjourned after Singh’s legal team asked for an extension to review evidence, some of which had not yet been made public, Judge Henry said in notes released to the media.

Ms Cordingley was found partially buried by her father at Wangetti Beach near Cairns in October 2018, a day after she was reported missing.

The pharmacy assistant and animal shelter volunteer had driven to the popular beach for a Sunday afternoon walk with her dog.

Four years later, Singh, a nurse, was arrested in New Delhi.

Police suspect he flew to India shortly after Mrs Cordingley’s body was found, leaving his wife and children behind in Innisfail, near Cairns.

Ms Cordingley was found partially buried by her father at Wangetti Beach near Cairns in October 2018, a day after she was reported missing.

Rajwinder Singh is due to appear before Judge James Henry in the Cairns Supreme Court from Monday

In March 2023, he was extradited to Australia and charged with murder.

Judge Henry said it was a circumstantial case, with no direct evidence that Singh was the killer.

‘In a circumstantial case it is necessary not only that the evidence be sufficient to support the conclusion of guilt, but also that it be sufficient to exclude every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence.

“In the present case the defence is fully entitled to rely on relevant evidence to support the hypothesis, consistent with Mr Singh’s innocence, that someone else was the killer,” Judge Henry said.

Another lawyer appeared for Singh during the police court hearing, when material should have been requested.

Judge Henry said continuing the proceedings next week would be so clearly unfair that if convicted the case would be overturned on appeal and a new trial ordered.

“This decision may be seen as a disturbing development, but it is nothing compared to the injustice of continuing with the trial when such a trial would not be fair because of the problems I have identified,” he said.

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