Brad Hosemans

In 2001, Mr Hosemans was a Detective Sergeant at Bathurst Police Station and also the Deputy Mayor. It is fair to say he was a well know identity within the Bathurst community and some people did not hold him in high regard.

Mr Hosemans has denied the allegation that he picked Ms Vaughan just before 4am on Friday 7 December 2001 in a red car. He stated that he had no knowledge of what happened to her. He denied out being with Andrew Holland and other police officers that night. He denied he was at the Tavern or standing outside the Tavern with Ms Vaughan when she was leaving.

I accept these denials.

Mr Andrew Holland and around six other police officers were out on 6 December 2001 and they were at the Ox and the Tavern. Mr Holland talked to and then danced with Ms Vaughan at the Ox. He had not previously met her. I accept the evidence of both men that Mr Hosemans was not with the group on that night.

I am satisfied that the statement made by Barry Cranston, a taxi driver, on 31 May 2007 that he was “not 100 per cent sure, but I’m almost sure it was Brad Hosemans” who he saw cannot be accepted as reliable evidence. Mr Hosemans has denied being there at that time and talking to Ms Vaughan. Mr Cranston’s statement made on 13 December 2001 where he describes a person fitting the image of Mark Wright that we have seen on the video is more likely to be accurate. While he maintained his position when giving evidence that it could have been Mr Hosemans, it is submitted that there is no credible evidence to sustain his view and it is apparent that he has developed some theories over the years since the disappearance that are not consistent with any known facts and that cannot be seriously entertained as worthy of investigation or review.

Mr Hosemans’ account of where he was on 6 December 2001 has changed between December 2002 and June 2009. He now admits that he was in Bathurst that night. His account has varied after he located a petrol docket that varied from his bank account statement upon which he had previously relied.

Turning to a different issue, there is no evidence to link Mr Hosemans with a small red car, despite extensive efforts by the Mountbatten team and also the Toko team to find such a link.

This is not to say that there are not genuine concerns about the role that Mr Hosemans played during the early phases of the Toko investigation.

There is clear evidence that Mr Hosemans had asked at least two other people about Ms Vaughan and that she had been told of his inquiries. Ms Rachel Green had known Brad Hosemans for some years and she worked in a shop opposite Ed Harry’s and came to know Janine. Brad Hosemans initiated a conversation with her about Ms Vaughan and asked whether she was in a relationship and that he found her quite attractive. Ms Green reported this conversation to Ms Vaughan and that she was “flattered and a little embarrassed”.

She knew or thought he was interested in her. He had a reputation as a “ladies’ man” and this caused her some disquiet at some stage or at least as she reported to some others. Mr Hosemans does not recall a similar conversation with Ms Nicole Nolan that occurred the following day.

Ms Vaughan had discussed Mr Hosemans’ apparent interest in her with:

n Her long time friend Christine Symington, expressing concerns about what she had heard about him.

n Her step-mother, Jenny, had one conversation when Janine reported that Brad Hosemans was “drop dead gorgeous” and was interested in her, and that she had never been on a date with him.

n Her friend Wonita Morris on one occasion when she asked about him and said he had been pursuing her and that there was “something weird” about him and asked her opinion.

n Her friend Rebecca Sams on or about 5 December 2001 told her to stay away from him as “he was a womaniser and that he had a reputation in town for dating a lot of younger women”.

n Her work colleague, Daniel Murphy, saw her hide once when Mr Hosemans walked past Ed Harry’s and then she commented that “he creeped her out a little bit”.

n Her work colleague Rebecca Larkin when she told her that Mr Hosemans had been asking about her to a girl working in another shop and asked whether she was single and this occurred a month or two before December 2001.

n Her friend Felicity Pennels discussed Mr Hosemans with her and Ms Pennels formed the view that Ms Vaughan was considered that she may go out with him.

Mr Hosemans has denied that he ever went on a date with Ms Vaughan, that he had ever telephoned her, sent her flowers, had a conversation with her or had met her. He had never run into her in licensed premises in Bathurst or purchased her an alcoholic drink in licensed premises. There is no evidence independent of the assertions by Ms Vaughan to her family, friends and work colleagues to cast doubt on his denials.

The issue of whether the Toko investigators or other police deliberately left out information about contact between Ms Vaughan and Mr Hosemans from statements taken in late 2001 and during 2002 was the subject of the inquiry held by the Police Integrity Commission and is not a subject of review during this inquest.

Mr Hosemans signed a workplace agreement on 8 November 2001. One condition of this agreement was that he not have any contact with members of the public. In his role into the investigation of Ms Vaughan’s disappearance, he breached this agreement when he telephoned witnesses to organise conferences and spoke to Vaughan family members.

There were others who gave evidence who were in my view also of interest if not suspicious. Police have been unable to discover any evidence linking any of them with the disappearance.