By Jeremy Sollars
LEGAL argument has delayed the start of the trial of a truck driver charged with the hit-run death of a cyclist near Inglewood on Anzac Day 2014.
Geoffrey Joseph Sleba, 44, pleaded not guilty in the Warwick District Court Monday morning 17 October to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and leaving the scene of an accident.
The Crown alleges that former Tamworth veterinarian Dr Martin Pearson was killed after being struck by a truck being driven by Mr Sleba while competing in a road cycling event on the Inglewood-Millmerran Road, about 3.15pm on the day in question.
The Crown further alleges that Mr Sleba kept driving after the collision while Dr Pearson lay on the side of the road with fatal injuries.
The jury for the trial was sworn in shortly before 11am on Monday but was directed to leave the courtroom for more than an hour while the Crown Prosecutor and Mr Sleba’s defence counsel Peter Davis QC argued a series of points regarding evidence before Judge Deborah Richards.
The Crown has a list of nearly 40 witnesses to call to the stand, including more than a dozen police officers.
Dr Pearson’s wife Sandy Vigar and a number of supporters were at the Warwick Courthouse for the start of the trial on Monday.
Mr Sleba, who has been on bail since being charged, was directed to the dock shortly before the jury was selected, dressed in a suit and tie, with a number of supporters in the gallery.
The trial before Judge Richards is expected to last more than week.
Updates to follow.
