Concerns about teenager Louise O’Brien were reported to police shortly before her alleged murder after a witness spotted the girl appearing ‘‘skinny’’ and ‘‘drunk’’, a court has heard.
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Leanne Gordon, partner of murder accused Patricia Goddard’s grandson, claimed she last saw Louise in 2008, noting the slain teenager appeared thin and ‘‘like she was drunk’’.
‘‘She couldn’t walk properly ... she didn’t say anything to me, she just shook her head,’’ she said.
‘‘I wanted her to go home with me but she wouldn’t.’’
Goddard, 73, was charged with Louise’s murder last year after the teen’s badly decomposed remains were discovered inside a wheelie bin buried in her Bellambi backyard.
Goddard’s daughter Tracey Taylor, 46, has been charged with being an accessory to the murder.
During committal proceedings for the pair yesterday, Wollongong Local Court was told Ms Gordon had contacted police shortly after she last saw Louise around October 2008 at Taylor’s former Woonona home.
Ms Gordon, who had known Goddard and Taylor for nearly a decade, told the court Louise used to clean Goddard’s Chounding Cres home daily and would be physically abused if she didn’t adequately complete her chores.
She said she had seen Goddard hit Louise in the face for failing to vacuum properly and alleged the woman would yell at Louise ‘‘every day’’.
‘‘Sometimes [Goddard and Louise] would get on okay and sometimes not,’’ she said. ‘‘In my opinion, I thought [Goddard] didn’t like Louise [because] of all the abuse she used to get.’’
Ms Gordon told the court she had also seen Louise with black eyes and a busted nose.
After Louise disappeared, Taylor allegedly told Ms Gordon that the teen was pregnant and getting married.
Ms Gordon said she asked Taylor about Louise ‘‘all the time’’ and was told the teen was living in Melbourne.
However, Ms Gordon allegedly contacted police again in February last year after another woman, who cannot be named, revealed to her that there was a body buried in Goddard’s yard, the court was told.
Ms Gordon said she reported the claims to detectives at Nowra as ‘‘last time I rung police in Wollongong about Louise, nothing was done about it’’.
Ms Gordon was the final witness to be called in the proceedings but the hearing was adjourned to allow the Crown to deal with clerical issues as a result of the large brief of evidence.
The court is expected to hear closing submissions on Monday.
