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Preston Pressed at Spear Creek Inquest After Admitting He Lied About Victim’s Motorbike

The coroner pressed Bruce Preston over shifting accounts of 1978 events during a renewed fact‑finding hearing.

Overview

  • Bruce Preston admitted in court that he lied to police about where he found Tim Thomson’s red BMW motorcycle.
  • Coroner David O’Connell granted Preston indemnity but warned he could face perjury if he lies, instructing him to rethink his evidence overnight.
  • Counsel challenged Preston’s timeline, citing witness statements placing him in Mount Isa on October 4–5, not October 11 as he claimed.
  • The inquest heard that Preston’s late father allegedly said, “The little bastard done it,” a remark Preston’s brother said he could not verify as firsthand.
  • After 2019 murder charges were withdrawn in 2023, the reopened nine‑day inquest is taking evidence from up to 40 witnesses to reconstruct the case.