Two months after his arrest on an attempted murder charge, the 76-year-old proprietor of Dyers Crossing Produce, Frank Gordon, was granted conditional bail last week only to find it taken away six days later.
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Mr Gordon is facing four charges including an attempt to discharge a loaded firearm at a person with intent to murder.
Appearing in Taree Local Court last Tuesday, he was initially granted bail with conditions such as good behaviour, movement limitations and reporting daily to the local Bundaberg police. He was also told to avoid any contact with Rodney Thompson, the man who had been operating out of Mr Gordon’s former business site at Dyers Crossing.
Mr Thompson was known for his role in the former AusMulch Landscape Supplies and associated businesses, which went into liquidation last year, leaving behind a list of creditors.
Out from behind bars, a relieved Mr Gordon made it back up to Bundaburg only to be presented with an order to reappear for a video link in Lismore Local Court the following Monday. An appeal had been lodged by the Department of Public Prosecutions after his hearing last week.
The application was heard yesterday with Mr Gordon in Lismore represented by a Legal Aid barrister in Sydney. Justice Helen Wilson refused bail and ordered he be taken back into custody, upon which Mr Gordon, a diabetic, reportedly collapsed.
Mr Gordon’s family is currently exploring whether or not a second bail appeal can be lodged. His case is due to reappear before court again on January 24, 2017.
In the meantime the site at Dyers Crossing, where the main shed burnt down the same night Mr Thompson vacated the premises, remains almost empty. Local businessman Ken Logan has reconfirmed his hope to purchase the property and is in regular contact with the Gordon family as they await instructions from the insurance company to help determine the future of the site and the asbestos clean-up.
