An accused killer was “stoned” and followed along with others, but did not have any idea a man was going to die, his lawyer has told a court.
On Wednesday, barrister John Saunders gave his closing address to the Supreme Court trial of his client Rikki Smith, 26, alongside co-accuseds Jordan Bottom, 25 and Albert Thorn, 57.
All three have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bradley Lyons, 30, who was found in a bush grave in eastern Victoria three months after he vanished from his Lakes Entrance home.
Previously, the jury had heard rumours had allegedly been circling around the small town that Mr Lyons had been sexually abusing children in the weeks prior to his disappearance on December 2, 2018.
Prosecutors have alleged this was the motive for Mr Lyons’ alleged murder.
Mr Saunders told the court there was no evidence Mr Smith had been involved on December 1, when a group allegedly met and began planning to kidnap and extract a confession from Mr Lyons.
He said his client became involved after going around to a mate’s home on December 2 to “smoke bongs”.
“Mr Smith simply followed along … It’s only when Harvey tells him what’s going on he decides to go along,” Mr Saunders said.
“You’ve heard evidence Rikki Smith was stoned or ‘fried’ as Patricia Evans put it.”
The jury heard prosecutors allege the attack on Mr Lyons began on the afternoon of December 2, when four men – Mr Smith, Mr Thorn, Alec Harvey and Nick Stefani – stormed his home and assaulted him.
It is alleged Mr Smith and Mr Harvey left a short time later, while Mr Thorn and Mr Stefani stuffed Mr Lyons into the boot of Mr Thorn’s mum’s Toyota Camry, the court has heard.
Mr Lyons was taken back to Mr Thorn’s farm in Nyerimilang, where he was left in the boot of the car for several hours.
At the start of the trial, the court heard Mr Smith and Mr Thorn had pleaded guilty to injuring Mr Lyons at his Lakes Entrance home, while Mr Thorn had pleaded guilty to kidnapping and false imprisonment.
At some point later the same night, prosecutors allege Mr Lyons was taken by Mr Thorn, Mr Bottom and Mr Smith to a remote dirt track near Double Bridges, where he was allegedly executed and buried.
Mr Saunders told the jury his client was a passenger in the car and “admits he was there when Bradley Lyons was shot”.
“The case against Rikki Smith on murder doesn’t seem to suggest he was the shooter. What it seems to suggest is he was part of an agreement, arrangement or plan to murder Bradley Lyons,” Mr Saunders said.
“We say he thought they were going out there for the purpose of putting the ‘frighteners’, a really terrifying experience on Bradley Lyons to get him to leave … the kids alone.”
On Tuesday, Mr Bottom’s barrister, David Cronin, made a similar argument, saying, while his client was present, he did not know Mr Lyons was going to die.
“He’s said he was there, the only dispute is in relation to the charge of murder,” he said.
“How could you exclude that only one person knew Bradley Lyons was going to be shot in the head … he’s (Mr Bottom) clear he didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Earlier this week, crown prosecutor Raymond Gibson KC said he anticipated lawyers acting for Mr Bottom and Mr Smith would point the finger at Albert Thorn.
“(They will argue Mr Bottom and Mr Smith were) a couple of gormless young men, naive bunnies, that went on a road trip in the middle of the night and were ignorant as to Thorn’s intention,” he said.
“We say each man must have known what was going on and each participated.”
Also on Wednesday, Mr Thorn’s barrister, James Anderson, began his closing remarks by telling the jury his client was a kidnapper but not a murderer.
“Thorn wasn’t in the car. He wasn’t there, simple. That’s our defence and that’s as simple as the defence case gets,” he said.
He said Mr Thorn, a father of two young girls, was driven to act out after hearing allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mr Lyons, but his role ended after the deceased man was kidnapped.
Mr Anderson told the jury he client had gone along with a plan to remove Mr Lyons and dump him outside of town, but Mr Bottom and Mr Smith allegedly took off shortly after midnight with the car.
The duo, he said, allegedly killed him without Mr Thorn’s knowledge.
“Is it so unreasonable that would be his part to play?” he questioned.
“There’s a certain logic to it … in his record of interview he tells police: ‘if his guilty mate, you’d keep walking wouldn’t ya (sic)’.
“But that plan doesn’t work when something goes too far.”
The trial, before Justice Andrew Tinney, continues.