A Mount Warrigal man who saw his best mate stomp on the head of a child sex offender at a Forbes home, lied about the fatal attack to police, a court has heard.
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Corey Bouwens, 25, was refused bail in Wollongong Local Court on Friday after he was charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Police allege Brendan Doolan repeatedly assaulted Bradley Dixon, ultimately causing his death on the morning of January 23 this year at the home of Doolan's mother, while Bouwens was present.
Documents tendered to court said Dixon, who lived in Nowra before moving to Forbes in the Central West, was convicted of a sexual offence against a child in 2008.
In January, Bouwens moved in with Doolan in Forbes as they were childhood friends.
On January 18, Dixon began his stay for a few weeks at the home of Doolan's mother as they had long been friends.
Doolan and Bouwens, who both allegedly knew about Dixon's criminal history, began drinking at Doolan's home about 6pm on January 22 before they continued onto two pubs until about 3am.
They went to a friend's home before leaving to walk to Doolan's mother's house.
Police allege Doolan switched off the power fuse at the home to lure Dixon out the back where Doolan started assaulting him.
Police allege Doolan repeatedly stomped on Dixon's head, during which he called him a "f---ing paedophile" but he eventually stopped and Dixon was able to walk back inside to get his belongings.
Doolan allegedly began assaulting Dixon again in the same manner.
Bouwens, who claims he tried to intervene and told Doolan to stop, called the friend about 3.50am allegedly saying "Brendan has gone ape-shit and is bashing this fella ... He's bashing him and won't get off, he's not going to stop", court documents said.
Police arrived at the scene after Bouwen's phone was used to call Triple-0 where they unsuccessfully tried to revive Dixon and he was pronounced dead.
When speaking to police, Bouwens allegedly said he witnessed an unknown man standing next to Dixon whilst he lay unconscious before the man ran away.
He later reconfirmed that account during an official statement, allegedly not identifying Doolan.
Bouwens made another statement where he allegedly claimed he lost sight of Doolan while they were walking to Dixon's home, as he was in a moon boot.
Bouwens allegedly said that after the friend came to collect him in a car, he saw Doolan standing near Dixon's body.
The friend made a statement to police allegedly telling them he arrived at the house to find Dixon lying in the driveway before he and Bouwens left to look for Doolan.
The friend claimed Doolan allegedly returned and dragged Dixon's body before stomping on his head twice.
The friend allegedly claimed he tried to intervene but Doolan said, "get away from me or you'll be next".
Doolan was arrested on January 23 and charged with murder.
Police obtained statements from other people connected with the case prompting investigators to allege Bouwens deliberately withheld the information he supplied to those people when he made his statements.
Police arrested Bouwens at his Mount Warrigal home on April 8 at 8.50am before he was taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station and charged.
Bouwens allegedly admitted to intentionally withholding critical evidence related to Dixon's murder in his first statement in order to protect his friend of more than 20 years from prosecution.
Bouwens allegedly told police he was not well for about 10 days after witnessing the alleged murder and that he started to recall specific details in his dreams and as the memories returned he claimed he wanted to tell investigators.
In court on Friday, Bouwens' defence lawyer Anthony Stewart said his client needed to be released so he could seek medical treatment for his trauma after allegedly witnessing the murder as well as for his foot.
Mr Stewart said Bouwens was a farmer but was not working as he was injured and was living with his mother in Mount Warrigal after returning to the area.
He also said Bouwens needed to seek urgent legal advice due to the seriousness of the charges and had strong ties to the community with several family members present in court.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming refused to grant Bouwens bail due to the seriousness of the offence. She noted the prosecution case appeared strong as Bouwens allegedly made a number of admissions.
Bouwens' case will return to Parkes Local Court on June 11.
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