The long-awaited inquest into the death of Western Australian man Josh Warneke will not hear evidence from the man wrongfully convicted and jailed for his manslaughter.
The court today heard the young tradie was cheerful in the hours before his body was found on the side of a road in Broome, in the state’s north-west, where the state coroner and lawyers retraced his final steps almost 15 years after he was killed.
On the first day of the inquest, they inspected the venues where he spent his last hours before visiting the spot on Old Broome Road where the young tradie’s body was found.
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His mother, Ingrid Bishop, also returned to Broome for the start of the inquest, hoping for a fresh set of eyes.
“It’s very challenging but, you know, I’m keeping things guarded and contained and my expectation is very much contained,” she told 9News.
“So it’s something that we’ve been working for for nearly nine years, so it’s a good day.”
The court was played CCTV from inside the Oasis Bar showing Warneke out celebrating before he got someone to order him takeaway at the McDonald’s drive-through.
“It’s just pretty hard to sit through the CCTV and, and see Josh there doing his thing on the dance floor and just walking through knowing that, you know, if only he stayed there another two or three minutes, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Bishop said.
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The state coroner will hear expert evidence as to three potential causes of Warneke’s death.
The first is that he was run over by a vehicle, the second that he was hit with a weapon to the head and the third that it may have been a combination of the two.
Broome resident Erin Parke, who spoke with Warneke at the Oasis bar that night, was the first to give evidence.
She fought back tears recalling how he seemed very cheerful and chipper.
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Gene Gibson, who was wrongfully convicted, jailed and then released after his manslaughter conviction was overturned in 2017, will not be called as a witness.
“There are so many POIs [persons of interest] I would have liked to have seen called and so many other witnesses,” Warneke’s mum said.
“But once again, that’s where I’m very pragmatic about the whole process and we just have to make sure that we get the right people here.”
The inquest is expected to last nine days, the first three in the Kimberley before heading to Perth.
Thirty witnesses are scheduled to be called during the inquest, but the court heard today that given the time that has passed since Warneke’s death, not all the key civilian witnesses could be located.
Tomorrow, a taxi driver who saw Warneke at the local McDonald’s just a matter of minutes before his body was discovered by another driver is expected to give evidence.
Police involved in the original investigation won’t be called until next week.
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