'There's no reason': Practice in the spotlight after horrific killing

Molly Ticehurst died in Forbes on Monday, reportedly at the hands of former partner Daniel Billings. He was on bail for alleged rape and stalking of the victim at the time.

The decision to let him free has prompted outrage. It was allegedly made by an unqualified registrar, who often do the work of magistrates on weekends at under-resourced rural courthouses.

Political representatives from our region say the practice needs to be reconsidered.

"I've already had discussions with the premier about this, and there's a couple of issues I can see," member for Orange and former police prosecutor Phil Donato told the Central Western Daily.

"Registrars in this day and age should not be doing bails on weekends. It should be a magistrate.

"There's no reason why people in the bush, police and the local court, shouldn't be able to facilitate a bail determination to be had via an AVL to be determined by a magistrate, not a registrar."

Dubbo-based MCL and former lawyer Stephen Lawrence echoed the sentiment.

"The reality is that weekend bail court operates very differently in the country to the way that it does in the city," he told the CWD.

"I think it'll be an important part of [premier Chris Minns'] review to examine the postcode justice issues that apply in bail applications ... I'm sure we'll look at the continued appropriateness of those arrangements for weakened bail court.

"I certainly hope that the review will squarely look at ... whether it's appropriate in bail applications NSW Police is not even represented by a police prosecutor ... or whether it's appropriate that non legally qualified registrars are presiding over bail applications."

The Central West has among the highest domestic violence rates in NSW, and bureau of statistics data published in 2023 suggested the problem may be getting worse.

Mr Lawrence believes the government needs to be doing more to understand and fight the problem.

"Look, domestic violence has many and varied causes and drivers," he said.

"When you have entrenched levels of social disadvantage, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness ... then often domestic violence is higher too.

"It's complex and I wouldn't try and offer some overall theory of it, except to say that it is higher in many parts of regional New South Wales ... and we need to continue to better understand that and combat it."

Mr Donato said more needs to be done at the grassroots level.

"We just can't continue to allow this to happen," he said.

"Men especially we need to stand up and be role models in our community and call out violence. Far too many women are being called at the hand of so-called partners or former partners."