The last to see Bathurst man Andrew Russell alive?

The trial, which began in Bathurst last week, will continue at Bathurst Court House today and tomorrow before resuming in Sydney on Thursday.

Tony Simmons stands accused of the murder of Mr Russell, whose body has never been found.

Last Thursday, Michael Patrick O’Neill told the murder trial, which is currently before Justice Peter Hamill, that he saw a man fitting Mr Russell’s description wandering along the Sydney Road late on the night of June 2, 2009.

Mr O’Neill, who was dropping his son to work at Simplot, initially saw a man – who he identified as Andrew Russell in court after being shown a picture of the missing man – standing in the middle of the intersection at Littlebourne Street.

Five minutes later, when he came back in the opposite direction, he again saw the man standing on the left side of the intersection.

Mr O’Neill said the man was staggering and visibly drunk and, in his opinion, “in a very dangerous position”.

Mr O’Neill said he stopped his car, wound down the window and told the man to “get off the road ... it’s dangerous”.

He said he told the man to go and sit on the grass verge. He said the man, who was about three metres away, looked directly at him for about 10 seconds, taking in what he had to say.

He said the man started walking towards the verge, but then veered back out onto the highway.

Fearing the man would be run over, Mr O’Neill dialled triple-0.

“I could see the position he was getting himself into was dangerous,” he said.

Mr O’Neill said he drove off after calling the police, believing he had done all he could.

Three weeks later, when Mr Russell was reported missing, Mr O’Neill was contacted by police to make a statement in relation to what he saw. 

In court, Mr O’Neill was given a picture of Mr Russell and asked if it depicted the man he saw that night. He said it did.

The trial resumes in Bathurst today.