Speaker 1: This podcast contains information and details relating to suicide. We
Speaker 1: urge anyone struggling with their emotions to contact Lifeline on
Speaker 1: thirteen eleven fourteen thirteen eleven fourteen or visit them at
Speaker 1: lifeline dot org dot au. A twenty four year old
Speaker 1: devoted mother of two fleeing a violent relationship as a
Speaker 1: bags packed car running her daughters strapped into the backseat.
Speaker 2: Mom told me that she needed to go back inside
Speaker 2: to grab something.
Speaker 1: Panic. I Amy is dead, Sir Aim his dead? Eight
Speaker 1: confusion than about five minutes, say sit n to suicide
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. This is emersing. What do you think
Speaker 1: is really the honest truth about Amy?
Speaker 3: The Truth About Amy?
Speaker 4: Episode six.
Speaker 1: I'm Liam Bartlett.
Speaker 4: And I'm Alison Sandy. It's another sunny day in Perth
Speaker 4: and we're off to track down David Simmons and his mates.
Speaker 4: We're taking two cars this time, Liam and the crew
Speaker 4: in one, and I'm in the other with security guard Mark.
Speaker 4: These guys have a history of violence and none of
Speaker 4: us are looking for a fight. They all still live
Speaker 4: in the same area a bit, so I have about
Speaker 4: an hour with Mark to shoot the breeze. We discuss
Speaker 4: alcohol and drug fueled violence, and mark indicates while the
Speaker 4: race is about the same, it's the stimulants such as
Speaker 4: methamphetamine which seemed to make the difference as to how
Speaker 4: violent an incident can become.
Speaker 5: Definitely yeah, and people are powered up and they almost
Speaker 5: lose the point of reason. It's very hard to talk
Speaker 5: to someone when they're in that state because a level
Speaker 5: of rationality is gone.
Speaker 4: In some space. Have you been out this way before?
Speaker 5: Not necessarily, munder John, But I have my sister living
Speaker 5: in Byford as well, so really we'll see if we
Speaker 5: bump into her at the shops maybe.
Speaker 4: So what was the brief mark that you got with
Speaker 4: this one?
Speaker 5: It seems like it's a little bit up in the air.
Speaker 5: But Liam did say there were a couple of guys
Speaker 5: that he was trying to get hold of and have
Speaker 5: a word with and see what they were thinking in
Speaker 5: regards to I think there was something along the lines
Speaker 5: of one of their friends might have been involved in
Speaker 5: a case quite some time ago, maybe ten years or so,
Speaker 5: and it seemed pretty serious, and they're probably going to
Speaker 5: stick up for each other. It's probably pretty emotional. They're
Speaker 5: probably going to be a little bit defensive or wary.
Speaker 4: You probably come across guys that are in and out
Speaker 4: of court right for various physical altercations or things like that,
Speaker 4: So you kind of would know the type of person
Speaker 4: or people that we're dealing with on that basis.
Speaker 1: Yes, and no.
Speaker 5: I think there's a lot of people that fit that
Speaker 5: category for a multitude of reasons. Homelessness or drug use.
Speaker 5: There's a lot of mental illness, and some people are
Speaker 5: also just prone to violence and they have bought impulse
Speaker 5: control and if they have a bad day, they'll let
Speaker 5: someone else feel the brunt of that. So there's a
Speaker 5: lot of people that I'll deal with that have those
Speaker 5: types of issues, but the actual cause or reason might
Speaker 5: seem to vary quite significantly.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, Well a lot of them. It's tied up, right,
Speaker 4: because drug use can lead to mental health, or mental
Speaker 4: health leads to drug use. I mean it's all yeah connected, right, It's.
Speaker 5: Probably hard to separate one from the other. Yeah, it's
Speaker 5: probably all feeding the same issue.
Speaker 4: Yeah, what's your analysis of those sorts of people when
Speaker 4: it comes to just the physical violence aspect.
Speaker 5: I think most of the time it is my job
Speaker 5: I do train a few aspects of this. We do
Speaker 5: have our training for the company as well, So there's
Speaker 5: a few things that will give me an advantage in
Speaker 5: those types of scenarios. But having said that, you don't
Speaker 5: know who you're dealing with. I don't know what these
Speaker 5: guys are capable of. I don't know if they're going
Speaker 5: to be armed, and you still need to have a
Speaker 5: level of respect for the situation. Things can go wrong
Speaker 5: and you need to be aware of that going in.
Speaker 5: If you are all gung ho and think I'm the
Speaker 5: man or I'm untouchable or something like that, then maybe
Speaker 5: that's not the best thing. There's always other factors as
Speaker 5: well that play into it. If you're trying to manage
Speaker 5: a situation and really de escalated or something like that,
Speaker 5: or you might make the wrong move, or you know,
Speaker 5: you might not have enough situational awareness. It all opens
Speaker 5: it up to change, and yeah, you need to stay
Speaker 5: switched on regardless of who it is.
Speaker 4: Do you come across many domestic violence situations?
Speaker 5: Oh, very very sensitive subject, isn't it? In terms of
Speaker 5: my relation to domestic violence with work in terms of
Speaker 5: crowd control or those types of aspects of venues, fairly minimal.
Speaker 5: But that's my workplaces outside of that there's some very
Speaker 5: concerning what would go on behind closed doors type scenarios,
Speaker 5: and a lot of it's probably not reported.
Speaker 4: It's always been a thing, right, but now it's out
Speaker 4: in the open, like we've always known about it at all.
Speaker 1: But I think that's good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is good.
Speaker 5: We need people to understand how serious of an issue
Speaker 5: it is. It's it's very hard to broad brushstroke an
Speaker 5: issue as complex as that, but geez, we need to
Speaker 5: come up with some solutions and fast. I think it's
Speaker 5: scary how common this type of behavior is. And I
Speaker 5: think what's more scary is any number that we hear
Speaker 5: that's reported, that's reported, Imagine what we don't hear about.
Speaker 5: Imagine all the cases where someone's too scared, they don't
Speaker 5: want to say anything, they've been intimidated to the point
Speaker 5: that they don't want to say anything about it, and
Speaker 5: they're just suffering away and they're not in a position
Speaker 5: where they feel like they can do anything about it
Speaker 5: or they can speak about it. I think that that's
Speaker 5: probably some really scary stats. If there was a way
Speaker 5: to actually unreported and combined the two, I think that
Speaker 5: would be a big wake up to a lot of people.
Speaker 4: Well, only ten percent are reported. That's the official staff,
Speaker 4: only ten percent of report.
Speaker 1: There we go.
Speaker 5: I didn't know that, but I can really believe that. Yeah,
Speaker 5: and that's scary. If only ten percent, that's scary. Out
Speaker 5: of ten people that are in that situation, only one
Speaker 5: of them feels like they can actually say something. There's
Speaker 5: nine that won't. That that's really scary.
Speaker 1: While Allison and Market chatting, I'm going over my notes
Speaker 1: about Joshua James Brydon. He's the youngest of the group,
Speaker 1: born in nineteen ninety one, a year after Amy. And
Speaker 1: Gareth Brydon was there the day Amy died, but says
Speaker 1: he left shortly before the shooting and then return shortly after.
Speaker 1: Despite this and having seen David Simmons and spoken to
Speaker 1: Gareth Price several times after Amy's death, he says neither
Speaker 1: of them told him, and he didn't find out about
Speaker 1: Amy's death until the following afternoon when talking to someone else.
Speaker 1: This is what he said in a statement to police
Speaker 1: on the twenty eighth of June twenty fourteen.
Speaker 6: I am twenty three years old and reside in an
Speaker 6: address in Byford. On Friday, the twenty seventh of June,
Speaker 6: I was asked to attend the Munda John Police station
Speaker 6: to provide a statement to the WA Police. I have
Speaker 6: been advised that I do not have to accompany police,
Speaker 6: that I am not under arrest, and that if I
Speaker 6: do a company police, that I am free to leave
Speaker 6: at any time unless I am placed under arrest. I
Speaker 6: am friends with Simmo and Amy. Simmo is a David
Speaker 6: Simmons who I have known through the family since I
Speaker 6: was about fifteen years old. Hami is his partner. They
Speaker 6: aren't married. I have known her for about two years
Speaker 6: and met her through Simo. Simmo was someone that I've
Speaker 6: only just started hanging out with the last two years,
Speaker 6: but I've known him since I was about fifteen. I
Speaker 6: consider him to be a good mate. I go to
Speaker 6: his house and he comes to mind, not very often,
Speaker 6: but I also see him at Gareth. When I see him,
Speaker 6: we go out bush, you know, camping, pig hutt and
Speaker 6: wood chopping, barbecues and hanging out at the house. I
Speaker 6: usually go with a group of people who go On Wednesday,
Speaker 6: twenty fifth of June twenty fourteen, the girls went out together.
Speaker 6: Amy sometimes goes out shooting, but only with Simo. We've
Speaker 6: only been out with Simo and her once and she
Speaker 6: only ever uses a twenty two because she has a
Speaker 6: bad neck from a car accident. She'd never used the
Speaker 6: shotguns she refuses to use it.
Speaker 1: So stopping here because think about it, Amy refuses to
Speaker 1: use the shotgun because of her neck injury. Now remember
Speaker 1: this statement was taken just two days after Amy's death.
Speaker 1: It's understandable given the four to ten would be much
Speaker 1: heavier and the recoil much stronger, but again something that
Speaker 1: was brushed over during the inquest.
Speaker 6: My girls, I mean Amy and Rachel Price. Rachel is
Speaker 6: Gareth's wife. They went to the movies I think it
Speaker 6: was at Armadale and he saw twenty two Jump Street.
Speaker 6: I was at Simo's house in Southwest Highway a certain
Speaker 6: time when the girls left. Garetha was also there. We
Speaker 6: were watching movies until the kids went to bed at
Speaker 6: eight thirty because we stuffed at the TV. The movie
Speaker 6: had finished and we didn't know how to use the TV,
Speaker 6: so I couldn't get it back to Foxdell. That's what
Speaker 6: I left. I had agreed to go back to Simo's
Speaker 6: house in the morning to chop some wood. Simmo and
Speaker 6: his dad have a logging business, and Simo still sells
Speaker 6: some wood from his house. I didn't go back to
Speaker 6: the house first thing in the morning because I slept in.
Speaker 6: At about nine thirty am, I got a Facebook message
Speaker 6: from Amy asking well we made what time me coming up?
Speaker 6: Simoto's never phone on him, so I got to communicate
Speaker 6: through Facebook. I said I was coming up. I was
Speaker 6: in the car and on the way. Got there about
Speaker 6: ten am. When I got to the house, I could
Speaker 6: see Simo's car suber rumby, Amy's car, which was a
Speaker 6: v Wire Commodol, and Rachel's car, which was a white
Speaker 6: Toyota camera. Gareth and Rachel had stayed over the night,
Speaker 6: but Garris Carr was already gone because he had gone
Speaker 6: to work. I walked up to the house, knocked on
Speaker 6: the door, and walked in. Simo and Amy were both
Speaker 6: in good moods, you know, happy as Larry. Simo asked
Speaker 6: if I was ready to go. Simo walked out to
Speaker 6: his car. Amy walked out just behind him with a
Speaker 6: box of rubbish frost, putting the bins down the end
Speaker 6: of the driveway. We then left. I drove my car
Speaker 6: and Simo drove his car behind me. Amy and Rachel
Speaker 6: stayed back at the house. We dropped the rubbish in
Speaker 6: the bins and then drove to the cow Text roadhouse
Speaker 6: in Serpentine. Simo put some diesel in my car, bought
Speaker 6: fuel for the chainsaw, and put fuel in his car.
Speaker 1: Brighton says Simmons was in a good mood. While they
Speaker 1: found some logs and cut wood. They didn't get back
Speaker 1: to simmons place Simo's place, as Brydon puts it, until
Speaker 1: about twelve thirty.
Speaker 6: The girls had gone out. I don't know where they went.
Speaker 6: Simmo got changed because it had been raining whilst we
Speaker 6: were chopping wood, and I remember he had a b
Speaker 6: loo sing one on and blue jeans. He got changed
Speaker 6: into a pair of shorts, a black jumper and a
Speaker 6: T shirt. I don't really remember his clothing. We stayed
Speaker 6: and had some chips and left in Simo's car to
Speaker 6: go to the bottle at Serpentine. Get a cart and
Speaker 6: a piss, and you know by piss, I'm in beer.
Speaker 6: Simo went desided to pay for it. It was about
Speaker 6: fifteen minutes down the road. We put the piss in
Speaker 6: the back of the ute and drove to Gareth's house
Speaker 6: in Jaredale looked over his phone. Gareth had left his
Speaker 6: phone on the bin that night. We couldn't find him
Speaker 6: up there.
Speaker 1: After that, he and Simmons went out Bush again. At
Speaker 1: about two fifteen, he received a Facebook message from Amy.
Speaker 6: She asked me to get simm to goober a call.
Speaker 6: Simo tried to call on my phone but it kept
Speaker 6: open in and out of some reception, so it never
Speaker 6: rotecked it.
Speaker 1: Before going back to Simmos, they picked up Gareth. It
Speaker 1: was about three thirty. Rachel had left and Amy had
Speaker 1: gone to pick up her eldest daughter from school.
Speaker 6: I gave sim On my phone to call Amy because
Speaker 6: he couldn't get her earlier. Lost he called, I went outside.
Speaker 6: I couldn't hear the call. About fifteen twenty minutes later,
Speaker 6: Amy arrived at the house with two kids. The kids
Speaker 6: were excited, you know, as usual. I don't know why.
Speaker 6: They went to the bedroom. After about ten minutes I
Speaker 6: heard Amy start yelling. I couldn't hear Simmo. She came
Speaker 6: running out and said, did David try to call me?
Speaker 6: And I said, yeah, here's my call logue and I
Speaker 6: showed her my phone. She said, don't worry about it
Speaker 6: and turned back and went back into the bedroom. She
Speaker 6: got a bit angry, started throwing stuff, and by angry
Speaker 6: Ammy and she was out of order. It was out
Speaker 6: of normal for me. Kath was down the hallway and
Speaker 6: they were arguing, and you know, by arguing, I mean
Speaker 6: Simmo was listening to Amy and he was saying a
Speaker 6: few things to try and calm Amy down. I heard
Speaker 6: Simmo say, have I ever hurt you? Have I ever
Speaker 6: hit you? I've never hurt you, and I never will,
Speaker 6: you know. Amy said, now, you've never hurt me, and
Speaker 6: you've never hit me. Kareth grabbed a mirror from the
Speaker 6: hallway next to the bedroom and walked back to the
Speaker 6: dining table and put the mirror down near me. I
Speaker 6: think he was just trying to do it to stop
Speaker 6: it from getting broken. Simo came out and started talking
Speaker 6: to us. We're still at the dining room table. Amy
Speaker 6: came out and said I've had enough. I'm leaving. Simo said,
Speaker 6: if you want to leave, leave, I'm not arguing with you.
Speaker 6: Amy said, I'm taking all the money and I'm going
Speaker 6: to get a new house. Simo said, you can take
Speaker 6: the money, take both of the accounts. All I wanted
Speaker 6: the roof over the kids heads. Simo was upset but
Speaker 6: holding it together for the kids. You know, five said,
Speaker 6: I mean he was a bit angry, but he was
Speaker 6: holding in his temper. Andy then walked out the front door.
Speaker 6: You know, I thought she was going to a car.
Speaker 6: Simo stayed and was trying to talk to us, So
Speaker 6: the girls went outside, playing in the shed out the back.
Speaker 6: Whilst all this was.
Speaker 1: Happening, he says, Amy's oldest daughter started crying, so they
Speaker 1: ran outside.
Speaker 6: Simmo said, I hope she doesn't hurt the kids.
Speaker 1: In anger, they noticed the lizard tank is smashed, and
Speaker 1: Gareth and Brydon proceed to clean up.
Speaker 6: Gareth and I stayed with the girls in the shed
Speaker 6: and looked after them, making sure they didn't run off
Speaker 6: or do anything stupid. Simo came and told the girls
Speaker 6: O had to go to the NaNs. At that point,
Speaker 6: Simo was upset, but was, you know, putting on a
Speaker 6: brave face with the kids. I would say that he
Speaker 6: was frustrated. I don't think he was angry, and I
Speaker 6: don't think he was sad, but I'd say it was
Speaker 6: pretty calm though. Put the kids in Amy's car.
Speaker 1: Brydon says, He left at four forty seven pm. He
Speaker 1: knows this because he just got a text message from
Speaker 1: his old school friend Kay. He says he didn't respond
Speaker 1: to this message, though, and went straight home and fed
Speaker 1: his dogs. At about five point thirty pm, he drives
Speaker 1: back to Simo's place.
Speaker 6: When I got there, Gareth is sitting on the fence.
Speaker 6: I stopped to talk with him. He said, you don't
Speaker 6: want to go up there, just leave and come back later.
Speaker 6: He wouldn't tell me what happened. I thought Simmo had
Speaker 6: started arguing back with Amy. Gareth is a bit strange,
Speaker 6: like you know someone was wrong. I knew there was
Speaker 6: something wrong, but I didn't do anything about it.
Speaker 1: So Brydon leaves again and apparently goes straight to his
Speaker 1: mate Kaid's place, whose text he didn't respond to. Earlier.
Speaker 6: As I was driving to Caids, I got a message
Speaker 6: from It was about five point fifty pm. The message
Speaker 6: said come to mind. I didn't respond to that message.
Speaker 6: I didn't receive any other calls that night or messages,
Speaker 6: and I didn't make or send any.
Speaker 1: He and Caid apparently then go pig shooting until after midnight.
Speaker 1: After that, he went home to bed Brighton says he
Speaker 1: slept in the next morning to about eight am, and
Speaker 1: after doing a few chores around the house, headed to
Speaker 1: the bakery and then to get new tires for his car.
Speaker 1: It's late morning when Gareth calls him.
Speaker 6: Gareth said to me, we need to talk.
Speaker 1: The call is from Brydon's sister's phone, and they hang
Speaker 1: up quickly so he can get back home where Gareth
Speaker 1: and Simo are waiting.
Speaker 6: Simma looked a mess. I mean, he wasn't talking. He
Speaker 6: looked like he was going to cry. He wasn't happy.
Speaker 6: Kara said, we're about to go up bush. Do you
Speaker 6: want to come? I said, nah, I got to get
Speaker 6: these tires put on. I didn't talk to them much
Speaker 6: because my sister was there. I figured if they wanted
Speaker 6: to talk, they would have said it with her.
Speaker 1: There, so if we still believe Joshua's story. Simmons and
Speaker 1: Gareth then leave, having not discussed Amy's death. Brydon says
Speaker 1: it wasn't until he drove to another mate's place and
Speaker 1: talked to Rachel's brother Ray that he learned about what happened.
Speaker 6: He said that Amy had shot herself and I said, yeah,
Speaker 6: I knew it. In myself kind of had a feel,
Speaker 6: and I felt it because of the way that Simo
Speaker 6: was when he was at my house. It was like
Speaker 6: his heart had been torturous. Chest Simon and Gareth rocked up.
Speaker 6: We were all at the back, and Gareth started talking
Speaker 6: to us. Both looked a little better, like they had
Speaker 6: refreshed themselves. Sim and I went out in the front.
Speaker 6: He asked me if I had heard what had happened
Speaker 6: to Amy said it was okay, and that he was
Speaker 6: better than he was. There was not much you could
Speaker 6: do about it now, I mean, it was too late.
Speaker 6: We talked for a little bit and then walked out
Speaker 6: the back. I tried talking to him some more, but
Speaker 6: Simo wouldn't talk back. Gareth and Simo left to go
Speaker 6: back to Gareth's house. I left as well. When I
Speaker 6: got to Gareth's house, Simo started to let everything out emotionally.
Speaker 6: He started crying and hating on himself or what Gareth
Speaker 6: had to see. Gareth was saying, that's what made the
Speaker 6: four here for you, no matter what.
Speaker 1: How prophetic those words would prove. Brydon doesn't say much more,
Speaker 1: but lists the guns owned by Simmons, which included the
Speaker 1: twelve gage shotgun, a three zero eight bolt action rifle,
Speaker 1: a Browning twenty two lever action fifteen shot rifle, and
Speaker 1: the four to ten shotgun. And there was also Amy's
Speaker 1: pink twenty two rifle. He then says, Simmons and Amy's
Speaker 1: relationship was very cheery and happy, a normal relationship, no
Speaker 1: different to any other of his mate's relationships.
Speaker 4: At the time of his statement to police in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 4: Brydon also mentioned that his dad's twin sister was in
Speaker 4: a relationship with Simmons. Uncle. This is Brydon at the inquest.
Speaker 3: Could you tell the court your full name, please, Joshua
Speaker 3: James Brydon. And my understanding is that you gave a
Speaker 3: statement to the WA Police in relation to the investigation
Speaker 3: into Amy's death. Do you remember that. Yes, It's dated
Speaker 3: twenty eight June twenty fourteen, so two days after Amy died.
Speaker 3: Do you recall giving that statement?
Speaker 6: Yes, I do.
Speaker 3: Is there anything that you would like to add or
Speaker 3: change to that statement in evidence today?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: And do you call David Simmons Dave David Simo what Simo?
Speaker 4: Brydon outlines the history of his friendship with Simmo and
Speaker 4: what they did together. And then he's asked about Amy.
Speaker 3: Did Amy go hunting?
Speaker 6: Not with me?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: Did you ever see Amy use a gun?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 3: Do you remember there being any issues of jealousy between
Speaker 3: you speaking to Amy from David's perspective?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 3: Would it surprise you to hear that there were messages
Speaker 3: sent between Amy and David where David expressed a bit
Speaker 3: of displeasure about the suggestion that Amy might go out
Speaker 3: shooting with you a min before she died.
Speaker 6: Yes, it would surprise me.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's news to you. Yes, Okay. Do you remember
Speaker 3: offering to take Amy out shooting or talking to her
Speaker 3: about that about a month before she died?
Speaker 6: Not really, I don't, but yes, all right, I'm.
Speaker 3: Going to ask you to cast your mind back six
Speaker 3: and a half years. Do you have an independent memory
Speaker 3: of the days before Amy died?
Speaker 6: No? I don't remember too much. But I mean I
Speaker 6: know the day that she died, me and Simo went
Speaker 6: and chopped firewood during the day.
Speaker 3: So the chopping of firewood, was that your job or
Speaker 3: were you just helping out?
Speaker 6: I was just helping out.
Speaker 3: Was that something you did regularly?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 3: When you would go out chopping wood, would you and
Speaker 3: David drink while doing that, Sorry, Simo.
Speaker 6: No, sometimes he might have stopped at the pub for
Speaker 6: lunch or something like that.
Speaker 3: You didn't. No, we know from your statement that the
Speaker 3: morning that you agreed to go and help Simo chop
Speaker 3: some wood, you had some Facebook messenger conversations with Amy.
Speaker 3: Do you remember that.
Speaker 6: Yes, that's how David was getting in touch with me
Speaker 6: because his phone. He didn't have a phone at the time.
Speaker 3: So do you know why he didn't have a phone.
Speaker 6: His phone got damage from water damage.
Speaker 3: Do you know where that occurred or when he left.
Speaker 6: It on Gareth rubbish Benn at Garri's house. I think
Speaker 6: a week a couple of weeks before and it got wet.
Speaker 4: Counsel assisting then discusses Facebook messages Amy sent to Brydon
Speaker 4: the day she died. The first one was at eight
Speaker 4: am asking when he was coming over. Brighton confirms Amy
Speaker 4: was talking about him going out with Simmo to chop
Speaker 4: wood as they discussed it the day before. Then Amy
Speaker 4: sends another message asking him how is my chocolate slice?
Speaker 3: Do you remember what that was about?
Speaker 6: Not really, I'm guessing we on chocolate slice days before.
Speaker 6: Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3: You would have been at her house yeah, the day before,
Speaker 3: is that right?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 3: All right? And you complimented her on her food, you
Speaker 3: said it was good.
Speaker 6: Yes, yeah.
Speaker 4: Brighton confirms arriving at their house shortly after and driving
Speaker 4: his utes separately from Simmer, who drove his own bhicle
Speaker 4: out to chopwood, and bringing several loads back to the
Speaker 4: house before finishing up. When prompted, he says, they went
Speaker 4: back and forth about three times.
Speaker 3: Do you know how long those trips would have taken
Speaker 3: back and forth?
Speaker 6: Probably between loads, I don't know, between a couple hours.
Speaker 3: My understanding is at about lunchtime you went back to
Speaker 3: Simo's house and you had done your wood shopping for
Speaker 3: the day. Does that is that your memory or is
Speaker 3: the timing off.
Speaker 6: We had obviously gone back to Simo's house a couple
Speaker 6: of times, but like the we got back there in
Speaker 6: the afternoon pretty much. We picked up Gareth on the
Speaker 6: way through, so it was at the end of the
Speaker 6: day when we got there.
Speaker 3: I think in your statement you mentioned stopping to buy
Speaker 3: some beer and go to Gareth's house. Does that sound right?
Speaker 6: We didn't stop and buy beer because we were nowhere
Speaker 6: near a bot shop.
Speaker 3: All right? Do you agree that you were at David's
Speaker 3: house at about lunchtime. That you would have been there
Speaker 3: at some point around twelve.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yes, we would have been there.
Speaker 3: Yes, just based on the messages on Amy's phone. We
Speaker 3: know that your phone, your Facebook messages. Sent a message
Speaker 3: to Amy's phone at eleven forty six am, saying Simo
Speaker 3: wants to know where you are. Do you remember anything
Speaker 3: about that message?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 3: And we know that. Amy responded saying on my way home, yes,
Speaker 3: you don't remember anything about that?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 6: Not really? I mean yes, yeah, I was communicating to
Speaker 6: Amy four Simmo.
Speaker 3: So Simo was saying this, ask this is that right?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 4: Amy then messaged Bridon's phone at twelve forty seven, asking
Speaker 4: where the fuck are you? But it wasn't until two
Speaker 4: forty two when Bridon replies out Bush. Three minutes later,
Speaker 4: Amy messages again, saying, get Simo to call me.
Speaker 3: Do you remember that?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 3: Do you know why Amy was looking for you?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 3: Did you call her back when you got the message?
Speaker 6: Yes? We tried to call her back, but I had
Speaker 6: a limited.
Speaker 3: Reception, couldn't get through.
Speaker 6: We couldn't get through, but we were heading home at
Speaker 6: that point.
Speaker 3: What happened to you when you got home? To Simo's house.
Speaker 6: We were sitting in the kitchen. Amy was yelling at Simmo.
Speaker 3: So Amy got home? Or was she home already?
Speaker 6: She was home already with the kids home. Yes.
Speaker 3: Where were they?
Speaker 6: I think they were in their rooms. Gareth and me
Speaker 6: were sitting in the kitchen.
Speaker 3: Were you having a drink or having a What were
Speaker 3: you doing?
Speaker 6: We were just sitting there, just sitting chatting.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 3: And where was David?
Speaker 6: He was talking to Amy?
Speaker 3: What do you remember happening when you walked in?
Speaker 6: Amy yelling? Similar? Was trying to calm her down?
Speaker 3: What was she yelling?
Speaker 6: I could remember what she was yelling.
Speaker 3: Could you hear what they were saying?
Speaker 6: I could? I just couldn't remember what they were saying.
Speaker 3: You can't remember?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: Do you know why she was angry?
Speaker 6: Maybe because she thought we were ignoring her for the day,
Speaker 6: but it wasn't the case. We just didn't have reception.
Speaker 3: Was David yelling back?
Speaker 6: No, just trying to yes, respond calmly?
Speaker 3: Were they trying to get away from each other? What
Speaker 3: was happening?
Speaker 6: No, not really. Simia was just trying to explain himself
Speaker 6: and calm her down.
Speaker 3: Really did Amy calm down?
Speaker 6: Not? Really? You know? The matter resolved itself a little bit.
Speaker 6: Simmia was outside with us, you know, talking to the kids.
Speaker 6: I think Amy's plan was just to go to a
Speaker 6: mom's house for the night.
Speaker 3: Did you see the argument get physical at any point
Speaker 3: while you were there?
Speaker 6: Yes, Amy tried to pick something up and hit them
Speaker 6: with it, but she didn't hit him physically with it.
Speaker 3: What did you see her pick up?
Speaker 6: I can't remember. It was something next to the kitchen.
Speaker 3: We received a statement from Gareth that says he saw
Speaker 3: Amy hitting Simo with a mirror. Does that refresh your
Speaker 3: memory in any way?
Speaker 6: Yes? That sounds about right all right.
Speaker 3: Did the mirror break?
Speaker 6: Nah?
Speaker 3: No, I didn't do you know what happened to that mirror?
Speaker 6: Simoy managed to get it out of her hand and
Speaker 6: threw it on the floor, and Gareth picked it up
Speaker 6: and pulled it away so it couldn't be used.
Speaker 3: Was this in the bathroom?
Speaker 6: No, in the hallway.
Speaker 3: Was Simo just standing there while Amy tried to hit
Speaker 3: him with his mirror.
Speaker 6: Or he was? Yes, he was standing there.
Speaker 3: He obviously wasn't trying to defend himself. No, he was
Speaker 3: just standing there while she tried to hit him.
Speaker 6: Yes, he put his arms up, but he didn't.
Speaker 3: He managed to get his arms up and take the
Speaker 3: mirror off her.
Speaker 6: Yes, I don't know. I can't remember if he took
Speaker 6: it off her or if it just if she let
Speaker 6: go of it.
Speaker 3: Do you know what happened after the mirror was moved
Speaker 3: by Gareth?
Speaker 6: I'm pretty sure we went outside, All of us went outside. Okay,
Speaker 6: the kids. Sim put the kids in the car. Yes.
Speaker 3: Where was Amy while this was happening.
Speaker 6: I'm pretty sure she was in a room. Okay.
Speaker 3: Were the kids upset?
Speaker 6: Yes, they were upset. I don't think they understood what
Speaker 6: was going on.
Speaker 3: Do you know why Simo put them in the car.
Speaker 6: He put them in the car and explained to them
Speaker 6: that they were going with Mommy to stay at Grandma's.
Speaker 3: Did you hear Amy and Simmo talking about that plan?
Speaker 3: Do you know where that plan came from?
Speaker 6: No? I didn't hear them.
Speaker 3: We know that Amy called her mom after the fight
Speaker 3: with David and said that she had thrown a beer
Speaker 3: at him. Do you remember seeing that? No, you didn't
Speaker 3: see anyone throwing any drinks.
Speaker 6: No, I don't remember that, but I mean it could happen. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Gareth also says that Simo had to wrestle Amy to
Speaker 3: the ground and hold her by the arms to stop
Speaker 3: her after she was hitting him. Do you remember that.
Speaker 6: Yes, he was trying to calm her down, and he
Speaker 6: managed to calm her down enough for us for us
Speaker 6: three to walk outside and separate the situation.
Speaker 3: Can you describe what he did to calm her down?
Speaker 6: He just held her down, that's it.
Speaker 3: Can you remember where he was holding her.
Speaker 6: He just held on to her arms.
Speaker 3: Did he take her to the ground to calm her down?
Speaker 6: I can't remember if he talked to the ground or not.
Speaker 3: Amy had butted David while that was happening and split
Speaker 3: his lip. Do you remember anything about that?
Speaker 6: I remember him having split lip.
Speaker 3: He didn't see the head butt.
Speaker 6: I can't remember.
Speaker 3: Do you remember them saying to each other while they
Speaker 3: were wrestling or while this was going on?
Speaker 6: Not really. It was more yelling, yelling from Amy's side
Speaker 6: of things.
Speaker 3: And David didn't start yelling back her anything.
Speaker 6: Not really.
Speaker 3: Was Amy still just angry or did she start to
Speaker 3: get upset?
Speaker 6: I think a bit of both.
Speaker 3: Can you describe what she seemed like what she was doing?
Speaker 6: Not really, I didn't see her after we went outside.
Speaker 3: Is there a reason. Did you try and intervene with
Speaker 3: David and Amy?
Speaker 6: We tried to stay out of it as much as
Speaker 6: we could, but yes, we were prepared to step in if, obviously,
Speaker 6: if it got too physically out of hand to split
Speaker 6: it up.
Speaker 3: But you didn't see anything that you thought was out
Speaker 3: of hand.
Speaker 6: No, I mean, what happened so fast and it was over.
Speaker 6: It was quick as before we could even get out
Speaker 6: of the chairs. Anyway.
Speaker 3: Did you see a headlock at any point?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 6: I didn't see the headlock.
Speaker 3: The reason I asked that is that Gareth says that
Speaker 3: David had Amy in a headlock to try and get
Speaker 3: her down to the ground. You didn't see that.
Speaker 6: No, I didn't see that.
Speaker 3: Okay, we know that the forensic pathologists that examined Amy
Speaker 3: after she died saw that she had soft tissue injuries
Speaker 3: to her wrists and other small bruises on her body.
Speaker 3: Do you think that the scuffle between her and David
Speaker 3: have resulted in those injuries based.
Speaker 6: On what you saw, could have done yes?
Speaker 3: Do you think he was holding her down forcefully enough
Speaker 3: that it might have left a bruise?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 3: Yes, all right, But just again, you weren't concerned to
Speaker 3: the degree that you would have stepped in.
Speaker 6: Well, in my eyes, he was trying to hold it down,
Speaker 6: to calm her down for our own good. I think
Speaker 6: you know, if the bruises are there, it's because she
Speaker 6: was fighting him more than he was fighting her.
Speaker 3: So your perspective of this altercation was that Amy was
Speaker 3: the aggressor, not David.
Speaker 6: Amy was the one that was angry, yes, and aggressive. Yes,
Speaker 6: at that time.
Speaker 3: She was the one using violence against David.
Speaker 6: Yes.
Speaker 3: Okay. Amy was a pretty small woman, wasn't she.
Speaker 6: Yes, she was.
Speaker 3: He went worried that David was a fair bit bigger
Speaker 3: than her.
Speaker 6: Yes, I mean he's a lot bigger than her, and
Speaker 6: he yes, and in capabilities. If he was being violent,
Speaker 6: he would be able to hurt her. But he wasn't
Speaker 6: trying to be violent towards her in that day at all.
Speaker 6: He just wanted her to calm down and stop.
Speaker 4: Miss Tyler then asked Brydon about whether he witnessed the
Speaker 4: lizard tank being smashed. He replies he saw Amy push
Speaker 4: a over and then head back inside. He confirms what
Speaker 4: Gareth said, which is they cleaned it up while Simmo
Speaker 4: put the kids in the car.
Speaker 3: At any point did Simmo go back inside and talk
Speaker 3: to Amy while you and Gareth were outside?
Speaker 6: He tried to, but the door was locked.
Speaker 3: Which door was locked?
Speaker 6: The front door?
Speaker 3: Are you sure the door was locked? The reason I
Speaker 3: asked that is because you didn't mention that in the
Speaker 3: statement that you gave to police.
Speaker 6: Yes, I'm pretty I know the door was locked at
Speaker 6: some point because he couldn't get into the house.
Speaker 1: This is a pretty big point, in fact, a very
Speaker 1: big point. Amy had locked the front door. Now nobody
Speaker 1: else mentioned this, and they didn't seem to be any
Speaker 1: issue with a locked door when they ran into the
Speaker 1: house later after hearing the thud, Brydon goes on to
Speaker 1: say that Simmons wasn't really phased by Amy locking the door.
Speaker 3: Was he angry about that?
Speaker 6: No, not really. You just tried. He just wanted to
Speaker 6: talk to her.
Speaker 3: You don't remember anything that David might have said through
Speaker 3: the locked door to try and get Amy to open it.
Speaker 6: No, not really.
Speaker 3: Do you know what time you left? We know from
Speaker 3: your statement that you told police you had a message
Speaker 3: from a friend at four forty seven.
Speaker 6: Yes, that's when I was leaving. I was meant to
Speaker 6: pick up my mate from the train. Station.
Speaker 3: Meant to pick up your mate from the train station.
Speaker 6: Oh, I had to after he finished work. We have
Speaker 6: planned to go pick hunt in that night, so just
Speaker 6: you two.
Speaker 3: Yeah, where did you go?
Speaker 6: I drove to my place where I was living.
Speaker 3: You went straight home.
Speaker 6: Straight home. I messaged my mate to see if he
Speaker 6: still needed to be picked up. He had been picked
Speaker 6: up by his girlfriend. So I drove back to Simo's
Speaker 6: place before going to his, but Gareth was in the
Speaker 6: front driveway and told me.
Speaker 3: To leave before we get to that. At the time,
Speaker 3: did you live alone?
Speaker 6: No, I lived with my parents at the time.
Speaker 3: Were your parents home when you got home?
Speaker 6: No, they weren't all right.
Speaker 3: Why did you drive back to Simo's house?
Speaker 6: I just wanted to check and make sure things were okay?
Speaker 3: Is that because you were worried?
Speaker 6: I was just just want to check to see if
Speaker 6: Amy was okay. She had calmed down, and yes, make
Speaker 6: sure the kids were okay.
Speaker 3: What were you concerned would have happened? What were you
Speaker 3: worried about?
Speaker 6: I was just worried that she might have been you know,
Speaker 6: like you know, they were both my friends, Yes, and
Speaker 6: I wanted to know why she was upset or what
Speaker 6: was wrong.
Speaker 4: Brydon says, only Gareth was at the front gate when
Speaker 4: he arrived.
Speaker 3: Do you remember talking to him?
Speaker 6: He just told me to leave.
Speaker 3: Did he tell you why?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 3: Did you ask him why?
Speaker 6: He told me just leave?
Speaker 3: Didn't give you any more detail than that?
Speaker 6: Didn't give me any more details.
Speaker 4: Brighton repeats what was in his statement about going out
Speaker 4: pig hunting with his mate Kaid, and despite having seen
Speaker 4: Gareth and Simmo the next morning at home, they still
Speaker 4: didn't tell him what happened to Amy. He once again
Speaker 4: says another mate told him, but changes it from being
Speaker 4: in person to via text message.
Speaker 3: What was your reaction when you heard that news?
Speaker 6: I was upset?
Speaker 3: Were you surprised?
Speaker 6: I was? I was surprised, okay fair.
Speaker 3: Did you ever suspect she would be at risk of
Speaker 3: committing suicide?
Speaker 6: No? I didn't.
Speaker 3: You didn't know anything about her being depressed or unhappy
Speaker 3: or anything of that nature.
Speaker 6: No, I didn't know that she was depressed. She never
Speaker 6: spoke to me about that.
Speaker 3: When you heard the news, were you concerned that David
Speaker 3: might have done something to her?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 3: Were you told that she had committed suicide? Or were
Speaker 3: you just told that she was dead?
Speaker 6: I was told that she had committed suicide.
Speaker 3: You didn't have a moment's doubt about how she had died. No, okay,
Speaker 3: you had known Amy and David for a couple of years.
Speaker 3: What was their relationship like? Generally?
Speaker 6: Mostly happy whenever I was there. I mean, every relationship
Speaker 6: has their bad days and their good days, so most
Speaker 6: of the time it was never in front of people.
Speaker 3: So did David ever confide in you about any difficulties
Speaker 3: in their relationship?
Speaker 6: Not really, I mean never really spoke to me about them.
Speaker 3: Did Amy ever confide in you about any problems in
Speaker 3: their relationship?
Speaker 6: No, she didn't.
Speaker 3: When you were all at Amy and Simmo's house, when
Speaker 3: Amy had come home and there was an argument. Had
Speaker 3: you all been drinking at all that day?
Speaker 6: Mind, had a couple of beers that day? I gotta.
Speaker 6: I can't really.
Speaker 3: Recall you had been with David the whole day, right?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Was he in your view? Was he intoxicated?
Speaker 6: No? No, No?
Speaker 3: Do you remember drinking that day?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 6: I don't. I don't. Really. A lot of that day
Speaker 6: is pretty blurring and scramble for me.
Speaker 3: If you had been drinking together, would it have been
Speaker 3: beer or something harder?
Speaker 6: It would have been beer.
Speaker 3: Yes, okay, but you're pretty confident that you weren't intoxicated
Speaker 3: that day.
Speaker 6: No, not to be the limit.
Speaker 3: David wasn't either, No, all right, to your knowledge, were
Speaker 3: drugs ever an issue for Amy or David.
Speaker 6: I've never seen timodo drugs while he was with Amy.
Speaker 3: And you hadn't used drugs that day or any day
Speaker 3: around it.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 3: One of the main reasons for holding this in quest is,
Speaker 3: I'm sure you know, is that the family don't believe
Speaker 3: that Amy committed suicide, and the police investigations haven't been
Speaker 3: able to resolve the question of how she died one
Speaker 3: way or the other. You've had six and a half
Speaker 3: years to think about it, and you were one of
Speaker 3: the last people to see Amy alive. Do you have
Speaker 3: a view about how Amy died?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 6: I mean, you can't really understand depression or what someone's
Speaker 6: going through. You can't even try to understand it. You know,
Speaker 6: the only person who knew what was going on that
Speaker 6: day would have been Amy, And I mean it was
Speaker 6: a pretty hard moment for me. I lost a friend.
Speaker 6: I lost another friend twelve months later that committed suicide.
Speaker 6: You know, right up to that point, I didn't know
Speaker 6: that he was suffering what he was suffering either.
Speaker 4: So the Deputy State Currenter says, she has a question.
Speaker 7: I just wanted to ask you one thing, and it
Speaker 7: might be testing your memory, but your statements there in
Speaker 7: front of you. I think if you could go to
Speaker 7: page eleven and just to paragraphs one hundred and fifteen
Speaker 7: and one hundred and sixteen, and you obviously gave this
Speaker 7: on twenty eighth of June, so very close in time.
Speaker 7: You mentioned there about a conversation you heard Simo say,
Speaker 7: have I ever hurt you? I've never hurt you and
Speaker 7: I never will. And you said then Amy said, no,
Speaker 7: You've never hurt me, You have never hit me. Do
Speaker 7: you remember that conversation now on hearing.
Speaker 6: Those words, Yes, I do remember that conversation.
Speaker 7: Yes, And to the best of your recollection, had you
Speaker 7: ever seen Simo hit Amy before that day?
Speaker 6: Oh, I've never seen him.
Speaker 7: And you mentioned Amy on the day. Did try and
Speaker 7: hit Simo a few times?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 7: Had she ever tried to hit him before?
Speaker 6: No, I've never seen that before.
Speaker 7: So this fight between them was unusual. Would that be
Speaker 7: fair to say.
Speaker 6: It's very unusual due to the fact that she was
Speaker 6: so happy and cheerful in the morning we left chop Wood.
Speaker 6: It was a completely different person, to tell you the truth.
Speaker 7: So the way she was in the afternoon was very
Speaker 7: different to how she'd been during the day.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Counsel representing the family, Peter Ward, asks Bride and more
Speaker 4: questions about his friendship with Amy and a Facebook message
Speaker 4: where he offers to take her shooting while David Simmons
Speaker 4: is away. Amy replies, sorry, mate, but Simo would be
Speaker 4: funny about going shooting.
Speaker 2: You responded to say, I thought he would.
Speaker 6: Well, yeah, wouldn't you be funny if another guy was
Speaker 6: going shoot?
Speaker 2: And didn't you tell her onor earlier that there was
Speaker 2: no problem with you talking to Amy?
Speaker 6: Well, you know, obviously he's not going to want us
Speaker 6: go friend going out shooting with another guy.
Speaker 2: So he was quite possessive, was he.
Speaker 6: I don't know, mate, I'm not Simmo. I can't ask
Speaker 6: the questions on how Simo is as that person.
Speaker 2: I'm not asking you to answer questions about what Simo
Speaker 2: himself thought. What I'm asking you about is on that
Speaker 2: fourth message down you said I thought he would. You
Speaker 2: thought that Simo would have a problem with it, didn't you. Yes,
Speaker 2: And the reason why you thought that is because you
Speaker 2: knew how possessive he was.
Speaker 6: Now I don't know how possessive he is.
Speaker 2: So he didn't even trust his girlfriend to go out
Speaker 2: shooting with his mates. Is that right? Do you want
Speaker 2: to answer that?
Speaker 6: No, he doesn't.
Speaker 2: Amy then responded that it's not like we ain't mates.
Speaker 2: But oh well, now I know I'm not allowed to
Speaker 2: have friends. That's pretty right, isn't it. She wasn't allowed
Speaker 2: to have friends outside of Simo's group.
Speaker 4: Was she?
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Did you ever see her with friends who weren't friends
Speaker 2: with Simmo?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 6: I didn't.
Speaker 4: Mister Ward then quizzers Brydon about the day Amy died
Speaker 4: and how he told police they went back to Gareth's
Speaker 4: house to pick up his phone.
Speaker 2: Why were you going to look for Gareth's phone at
Speaker 2: Gareth's house when Gareth wasn't there?
Speaker 6: It was Simmo's phone, and Gareth had left Simo's phone
Speaker 6: on the bin that night.
Speaker 2: Right, So when you say Gareth had left his phone
Speaker 2: on the bin, you meant Gareth had left Simo's phone
Speaker 2: on the bin. Yes, okay, so you were going back
Speaker 2: to Gareth to look for Simo's phone on the bin.
Speaker 6: Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 2: Why did you go and collect the phone if it
Speaker 2: wasn't working?
Speaker 6: Obviously he wanted to simkid back out of it so
Speaker 6: we could put in a new phone.
Speaker 2: You had already asked Amy earlier that day to go
Speaker 2: and pick that phone up for him, hadn't you?
Speaker 6: Yes? I had.
Speaker 2: You sent her a message at quarter past twelve to
Speaker 2: say did you go to Gareth to get Zima's phone?
Speaker 2: And she responded at half past twelve to say got
Speaker 2: his phone? And yet at quarter to three you say
Speaker 2: you went to Gareth's house to get the phone that
Speaker 2: she had already picked up.
Speaker 6: Well is that when? Is that? What the time was?
Speaker 1: When?
Speaker 6: What I said? Or has or did we go to
Speaker 6: Gareth's house before that? So I don't remember all this
Speaker 6: stuff six and a half years ago. So I know
Speaker 6: we went to Garth's house and picked Gareth up, but
Speaker 6: I don't know that was on the way home.
Speaker 4: Mister Ward mentions a few inconsistencies in the timeframe provided
Speaker 4: by Brydon, and when asked by the Deputy coroner where
Speaker 4: he's going with all this, he indicates he's underlining the
Speaker 4: unreliability of the witness's evidence.
Speaker 2: The witness's account of his movements versus the messages that
Speaker 2: were being sent and received is inaccurate. The account he
Speaker 2: gave to police at the time he is inaccurate when
Speaker 2: it was fresh in his mind, and that what appears
Speaker 2: to have happened is that he has spent a significant
Speaker 2: amount of time out pushed with Simo or back at
Speaker 2: the house drinking with Simo, when what they should have
Speaker 2: been doing is coming back to the house for the
Speaker 2: wood buyer to collect. The fact that they weren't there
Speaker 2: when the wood buyer was supposed to collect may provide
Speaker 2: some explanation for why Amy is upset and why the
Speaker 2: fight began.
Speaker 4: The Deputy coroner agrees there are discrepancies, but suggests this
Speaker 4: line of questioning is unhelpful under the circumstances.
Speaker 7: Yes, and I've worked that out from the evidence. I mean,
Speaker 7: she's clearly annoyed that the buyer is coming and no
Speaker 7: one is responding. And I mean whether Josh Briden is
Speaker 7: part of the problem in the fact that David Simmons
Speaker 7: hasn't come back, that's kind of neither here nor there.
Speaker 7: But I can understand from the evidence that Amy's becoming
Speaker 7: frustrated because she's not being contacted, and that seems to
Speaker 7: have been accepted by Josh Bridon in the sense of
Speaker 7: saying it appears she was angry because it seemed like
Speaker 7: they were ignoring David was ignoring her. There's nothing to
Speaker 7: suggest Josh Bridon is in some conspiracy where he's actually
Speaker 7: been at the house during all these events. And I
Speaker 7: just can't see how questioning this witness unless he suddenly
Speaker 7: completely changes his story and announces that he was there
Speaker 7: when he wasn't, and you can put that to him,
Speaker 7: but I can't see any evidence to suggest that at
Speaker 7: this stage, and I'm unlikely to be hearing evidence of that,
Speaker 7: however long I give you. I would have thought, I
Speaker 7: accept that his evidence is not reliable in some parts,
Speaker 7: and I mean, he kind of almost concedes that throughout,
Speaker 7: but by all means put a little bit more to him.
Speaker 7: But I just think we have time pressures here in
Speaker 7: the sense of getting through the witnesses today. And also
Speaker 7: I don't want people to come to an inquest and
Speaker 7: feel like they're being cross examined in a criminal trial
Speaker 7: when they're not. That's not the purpose of it. You're
Speaker 7: not being aggressive or anything I'm not suggesting your manner
Speaker 7: is inappropriate, but I just think that kind of pinning
Speaker 7: down for all the inconsistencies in prior statements is probably
Speaker 7: not perfectly suited to this jurisdiction.
Speaker 4: I think the corony is missing the point here. Why
Speaker 4: would they need to go back to Gareth's house for
Speaker 4: Simo's phone when they already had it. Could the reason
Speaker 4: for the trip have been obtaining illegal drugs? Instead? Mister
Speaker 4: Ward is allowed to proceed with the witness and Brydon
Speaker 4: is brought back in.
Speaker 2: So, mister Brydon, we were talking about where you had
Speaker 2: been when you received those messages. So you eventually went
Speaker 2: to Garrett's house. You then went from Garret's house to
Speaker 2: Simo's house, and that was after Gareth had knocked off
Speaker 2: work about three o'clock, so you would have got back
Speaker 2: to Simo's about three thirty somewhere.
Speaker 6: There, thirty four o'clock. Yes, So how.
Speaker 2: Long after you got there did the fight between Amy
Speaker 2: and Simo start? Did the fight between Amy and Simo
Speaker 2: start before or after the lizard tank got broken?
Speaker 6: Before?
Speaker 2: How long did the fight go for?
Speaker 6: I don't know. I wasn't wearing a stopwatch, are.
Speaker 2: We talking about a minute? Or are we talking about
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes?
Speaker 6: Fifteen minutes?
Speaker 4: Brighton then confirms the rest of the events were just
Speaker 4: as he'd mentioned in his statement, but mister Ward requires
Speaker 4: one more clarification regarding his decision to leave and come
Speaker 4: back shortly after.
Speaker 2: If you were coming back to check if Amy was okay,
Speaker 2: why didn't you just send her a Facebook message?
Speaker 6: I didn't just go there to check Amy was okay.
Speaker 6: I went there to check if everyone was okay.
Speaker 2: So isn't it the case that one of the reasons
Speaker 2: why you went back there rather than just send a
Speaker 2: message was because you were actually worried about whether anyone
Speaker 2: might be okay?
Speaker 6: I said I was going back, So I went back.
Speaker 6: That's what I said before I left. I said I'm
Speaker 6: coming back, all right? So I went back.
Speaker 2: And when you got back there and there's just Garreth
Speaker 2: sitting on the gate and he says, go away, doesn't
Speaker 2: it make you suspicious that things aren't all right?
Speaker 6: Not? Really.
Speaker 2: The reason why that didn't make you suspicious is because
Speaker 2: you knew that there was a problem, didn't you know?
Speaker 2: You knew that the way that David had been acting
Speaker 2: up earlier that day, that there might be a problem.
Speaker 6: David wasn't acting up in any way that day. It
Speaker 6: was just a normal day.
Speaker 4: Eventually we make it to Byford, where Joshua Brydon lives
Speaker 4: with his parents. Both cars pull up and Mark jumps
Speaker 4: out to join Liam and the crew.
Speaker 1: Yeah good Joshua, Joshua, yeah exactly, mister Brydon. Yeah, Hi,
Speaker 1: how are you too bad? Good? Thank you? Liam Bartlett
Speaker 1: from seven News spotler, is your son Joshua here? Please?
Speaker 4: He is?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Why he is? Or he would we be able
Speaker 1: to have a word to it? Well? Four? Well, we
Speaker 1: want to ask him some questions questions online. We're looking
Speaker 1: into the death of Amy Wensley. Ask him he's film
Speaker 1: and a yes, we are, Well you can on that
Speaker 1: Phil film right now? So can all right, Well, we'd
Speaker 1: just like to ask josh are a few questions, thank
Speaker 1: you very much. No, he doesn't want anything to do
Speaker 1: with it. He doesn't want anything to do with it. No,
Speaker 1: he doesn't want that. He's not well. Unfortunately, he has
Speaker 1: got something to do with it. Well has he got
Speaker 1: to do with it? Well, he was there on the day. Yea,
Speaker 1: so he's inexorably linked to it. You can't know he wasn't.
Speaker 1: He wasn't. He was there on the day, but he
Speaker 1: wasn't there when it happened. He can't be. He can't
Speaker 1: be unlinked to it. He was there. It's the trial
Speaker 1: has been done and finished and all ways there was
Speaker 1: no there was never a trial. There's a coronial inquest.
Speaker 1: Are you filming still? Yes, we are. You can get
Speaker 1: off my property. Per starts. He is, he is? He
Speaker 1: all brave enough to come and talk to us. He
Speaker 1: doesn't want to talk about it. It's a sad thing
Speaker 1: that happened. He doesn't want to talk about it, and
Speaker 1: so well, how much does he know about it? Don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about I've with my life. I've told
Speaker 1: the reporters one hundred times before. Leave me alone. I
Speaker 1: can't see you film. Can't you can see me or not?
Speaker 6: Don't you You're invading our privacy on our property.
Speaker 1: All right, I don't have to talk to you. You
Speaker 1: don't have to know. You don't have to. But for
Speaker 1: the sake of Amy's family, I would have thought it'd
Speaker 1: be big enough to do that. Amy's family need to
Speaker 1: let it go. Well, they can't. They can't let it go. Well,
Speaker 1: the truth was found that the cronial inquest. It wasn't
Speaker 1: there wasn't a truth and you know that, Joshua. It
Speaker 1: was an open finding. I've already told what I know
Speaker 1: that day in court.
Speaker 6: I don't need to keep going through this ship, keep
Speaker 6: beating for going through that day.
Speaker 1: Well, that's that's exactly what the family says, guys, that's
Speaker 1: exactly what the family says, Joshua. If this case the
Speaker 1: TV Amy's family, I don't know Amy at all. I
Speaker 1: don't even know. Well, don't you even feel anything for that?
Speaker 1: It's kind of happen to do with me. I've had Look,
Speaker 1: I've been through life of my stuff. It's got nothing
Speaker 1: to do with me. I don't know her. That's a
Speaker 1: pretty heartless attitude. Why isn't that? Why is that because
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was your daughter, mate, you
Speaker 1: wouldn't feel too good about it either, would you.
Speaker 6: Of course I wouldn't feel too good about it.
Speaker 1: Well, you'd want answers if it was your family, if
Speaker 1: it was your son, Joshua.
Speaker 6: Well, he wasn't there, so what's it good to you?
Speaker 1: He was there that day. He's friends with David Simmons
Speaker 1: and Gareth Price. You know very well what the situation.
Speaker 1: He wasn't there that day when that happened. He was
Speaker 1: there that day, but he wasn't there. He was not there.
Speaker 1: You don't think he knows what happened. No, guys, all right,
Speaker 1: thank you.
Speaker 4: Despite admitting there were credibility issues with Brydon's evidence, the
Speaker 4: Deputy current Is still seemed to give it a lot
Speaker 4: of weight compared to the testimony provided by Amy's closest friends,
Speaker 4: Erin and Tash. The incidents they described where Simmons overpowered
Speaker 4: Amy and how Simmons joked he would dispose of Amy's body,
Speaker 4: and then Nancy revealing what Amy said on the phone,
Speaker 4: how Simmons threw her around the room, and Nancy's partner
Speaker 4: making a statement about how Amy told him four days
Speaker 4: before she died that Simmons had held a knife to
Speaker 4: a throat. We'll go into more detail on that in
Speaker 4: a future episode. None of that seemed to make any
Speaker 4: difference because Gareth and Josh said they had a great relationship,
Speaker 4: but Amy hadn't reported the domestic violence, and police couldn't
Speaker 4: find the photo of Amy covered in bruises that she
Speaker 4: sent to Erin.
Speaker 7: There were differing accounts of the nature of Amy and
Speaker 7: David's relationship. Those witnesses associated with Amy described a relationship
Speaker 7: characterized by coercive control and verbal abuse by David towards Amy,
Speaker 7: and suspicions of physical violence.
Speaker 4: They were more than just suspicions. They witnessed it. However,
Speaker 4: for some reason authorities did not consider those actions as violent.
Speaker 7: Those people more closely associated with David Simmons suggested the
Speaker 7: relationship was volatile, with poor behavior on the part of
Speaker 7: both parties at times. Both sides agreed the problems were
Speaker 7: exacerbated by David's drinking and drug use. They had broken
Speaker 7: up a few times, either briefly or for a longer period,
Speaker 7: but always seemed to get back together. However, in more
Speaker 7: recent times, Amy's family and friends felt she had seemed
Speaker 7: to indicate she was starting to consider a permanent end
Speaker 7: to their relationship.
Speaker 4: Again, it was not a seeming indication, but a fact.
Speaker 4: Here her Honor refers to Erin's evidence.
Speaker 7: Erin ascribed David's behavior as very controlling and jealous of Amy,
Speaker 7: and he would bully her and belittle her in front
Speaker 7: of other people. Erin recalled she witnessed coless times when
Speaker 7: David was verbally abusive towards Amy. David also apparently made
Speaker 7: inappropriate jokes in front of Erin about the means by
Speaker 7: which he would dispose of Amy's body if he killed her,
Speaker 7: which he appeared to find funny and Amy would brush off,
Speaker 7: although David would regularly make Amy delete her Facebook account
Speaker 7: due to his jealousy. Facebook messages between Amy and Erin
Speaker 7: were provided to the police spanning a number of years.
Speaker 7: As early as the eighth of July twenty twelve, Amy
Speaker 7: told Erin that she had an argument with David about
Speaker 7: his drug use and started punching him, and in response,
Speaker 7: he had man handled her, choked her, and chucked her
Speaker 7: around the room. She said at the time her adrenaline
Speaker 7: was pumping, so she didn't feel anything. Erin also recalled
Speaker 7: that prior to moving to Broom in late twenty twelve,
Speaker 7: Amy sent her photographs of bruises to her neck, which
Speaker 7: she told Erin had been caused by David.
Speaker 4: The deputy coroner then refers to Natasha Cels's evidence.
Speaker 7: On one occasion, when Amy was nine months pregate, Natasha
Speaker 7: recalled that David came home drunk and a fight started
Speaker 7: as Amy was unhappy with him. For going out drinking
Speaker 7: at such a time. Amy began yelling at him, and
Speaker 7: then they both had a grip on each other, pushing
Speaker 7: and shoving. David eventually pushed Amy into the kitchen and
Speaker 7: grabbed her around the neck while she was still grabbing
Speaker 7: on to him, as she never backed down. Amy and
Speaker 7: Natasha had spoken about suicide in two thousand and nine
Speaker 7: when Natasha was experiencing her own relationship issues, and Natasha
Speaker 7: strongly recalled Amy telling her that no man is ever
Speaker 7: worth killing yourself over. Natasha believed that Amy's view on
Speaker 7: that would never change. One of Amy's more recent friends,
Speaker 7: Shelley Stanley, who was still in close contact with Amy
Speaker 7: before her death, also prepared a statement and gave evidence
Speaker 7: at the inquest. Shelley met with Amy in twenty twelve
Speaker 7: and saw her for the last time about twelve days
Speaker 7: before her death at a barbecue. Miss Stanley described Amy
Speaker 7: as a kind, thoughtful, and insl rightful person who was
Speaker 7: mature beyond her years, and an amazing mother. Shelley and
Speaker 7: her ex partner used to regularly go camping with Amy
Speaker 7: and David, and Shelley and Amy became close. Shelley became
Speaker 7: aware that things weren't going well between Amy and David,
Speaker 7: and she understood Amy was saving money so she could
Speaker 7: leave him and move out with her daughters. Amy told
Speaker 7: Shelley she just wanted a peaceful, quiet house without all
Speaker 7: the anger and aggression that came with David. The text
Speaker 7: messages that Amy and Shelley exchanged certainly indicate that Amy
Speaker 7: was very unhappy about David's drinking and felt he wasn't
Speaker 7: willing to put in the effort to save their relationship,
Speaker 7: so even though she wanted to keep her family together,
Speaker 7: in May twenty fourteen, she had been making plans to
Speaker 7: take her daughters and move out. Based on all the
Speaker 7: information obtained, the WA police concluded Amy and David's relationship
Speaker 7: had been tumultuous and characterized by arguments, but there was
Speaker 7: no confirmed evidence of physical violence by David towards.
Speaker 4: I'm just going to stop here and repeat what the
Speaker 4: coroner just said, No confirmed evidence of physical violence by
Speaker 4: David towards Amy. She goes on to say.
Speaker 7: Indeed, the only direct witness accounts of any physical violence
Speaker 7: between the pair came from evidence of the two friends
Speaker 7: who were present on the day of Amy's death, Gareth
Speaker 7: and Josh, where they witnessed Amy assaulting David and David
Speaker 7: physically restraining Amy. Both these witnesses described this incident as
Speaker 7: out of character for both of them, and Amy as
Speaker 7: the aggressor. It's clear from the evidence that despite the
Speaker 7: difficulties in the relationship, Amy was committed to trying to
Speaker 7: make it work. In my opinion, some of the most
Speaker 7: compelling evidence of Amy and David's relationship comes from reading
Speaker 7: their messages to each other that were downloaded from their phones.
Speaker 7: They were obviously private messages, so I won't repeat them
Speaker 7: in too much detail.
Speaker 4: However, there are.
Speaker 7: Messages on the twenty sixth of May twenty fourteen that
Speaker 7: indicate David and Amy were talking about getting married. Their
Speaker 7: message exchanges are generally affectionate, although there is some obvious
Speaker 7: jealousy on both their parts. On the twenty ninth of
Speaker 7: May twenty fourteen, they had an argument and Amy offered
Speaker 7: to move out and complained about the fact it was
Speaker 7: David's father's property so she wanted to get her own place.
Speaker 3: She also suggested she.
Speaker 7: Would leave both girls with David, at least temporarily until
Speaker 7: she found a place of her own. However, this blew
Speaker 7: over quickly and the messages returned to normal. These messages
Speaker 7: support the descriptions of the relationship being volatile and subject
Speaker 7: to jealousy and threats of separation, but also that they
Speaker 7: also appeared committed to each other. Although they had separated
Speaker 7: a couple of times, particularly due to David's drinking, Amy
Speaker 7: had taken him back each time as he promised he
Speaker 7: would change. However, Nancy believes that on the night Amy died,
Speaker 7: things had changed and Amy had had enough she wasn't
Speaker 7: going back. David, on the other hand, gave evidence that
Speaker 7: he thought it was their usual kind of fight and
Speaker 7: she would leave and then return as usual.
Speaker 4: So in short, there was not enough evidence of domestic
Speaker 4: violence extraordinary.
Speaker 1: Next week, we probe deeper into why Robert Simmons' first
Speaker 1: thought upon finding Amy dead was that his son killed her,
Speaker 1: and how Amy's friend and Gareth's ex wife. We made
Speaker 1: las bar slice for the kids, We got vegetables ready
Speaker 1: for dinner, and then the boys were late, so I
Speaker 1: went home and then that was it was threatened after
Speaker 1: she was accused of being a snitch.
Speaker 4: Rachel, you're a give up dog.
Speaker 3: I no longer have a sister.
Speaker 4: It's gloves off. When I see your next maggot, I'll
Speaker 4: be coming for you, So take your big hole and
Speaker 4: fuck off somewhere for good.
Speaker 6: You listen your c.
Speaker 5: SO deation.
Speaker 2: We both know the now set you me.
Speaker 5: S.
Speaker 1: If you knew Amy and have information, any information about
Speaker 1: her death, we'd love to hear from you. Just email
Speaker 1: us at The Truth about Amy at seven dot com
Speaker 1: dot au. That's s e V E N The Truth
Speaker 1: about Amy at seven dot com dot Au, or visit
Speaker 1: our website sevenews dot com dot Au forward slash the
Speaker 1: Truth about Amy. You can also send us an anonymous
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Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe. Please rate and review our series
Speaker 1: because it really helps new listeners to find us. Presenter
Speaker 1: and executive producer Alison Sandy, Presenter and investigative journalist Liam Bartlett,
Speaker 1: sound design Mark Wright, Assistant producer Cassie Woodward, Graphics Jason Blandford,
Speaker 1: and special thanks to Tim Clark and Brian Seymour. This
Speaker 1: is a seven News production.