Lockhart River mayor bailed, set to return to work

Defence lawyer Mark Butler did not speak to media as he left Cairns Magistrates Court on 4 July after securing bail for Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher on seven domestic and family violence charges. Photo: Lyndon Keane.

The mayor of Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Council has been bailed in a Cairns court after being charged with seven offences including common assault, strangulation, suffocation and deprivation of liberty.

Wayne William Butcher, 53, was arrested on 28 June following allegations he punched a woman in the face and strangled her on the bed of a property in the remote Cape York community earlier that day.

Mr Butcher was also charged with grievous bodily harm in relation to a separate incident from December 2022, in which it is alleged he attacked the same woman by striking her in the head with a metal implement “similar to a Maglite [torch]” before kicking her in the head while she was on the ground.

Defence lawyer Mark Butler, for Mr Butcher, told Magistrate Leanne Scoines on 4 July the additional charge had only been laid when the complainant recanted a previous statement on 30 June and “admitted lying to police” after she was charged with several offences stemming from an alleged incident at the Lockhart River canteen on 28 June.

He added he believed police had “cherry picked the parts that suit” to offer the court a “one-sided picture” of the alleged incident that led to Mr Butcher’s arrest.

The prosecution opposed bail on the basis Mr Butcher’s release would pose an “unacceptable” risk to the complainant, given the “extreme seriousness of the allegations”.

In granting bail, Magistrate Scoines acknowledged there were “issues with the credibility [and] reliability of the complainant” before highlighting the seriousness of the allegations against Mr Butcher.

“The charges are very serious … it is a dangerous type of offence that is alleged to have occurred,” she said.

“There is a fairly chronic pattern of what [the complainant] says is behaviour by Mr Butcher.”

Under the conditions of the bail, Mr Butcher is to have no contact with the complainant, either directly or indirectly, be at least 100 metres from her at all times, and inform the Cairns officer in charge if he intends to travel to the city, where the complainant is now residing.

The council held an emergency meeting on 3 July to appoint Deputy Mayor Alister Bowie as acting mayor while Mr Butcher “addresses personal accusations separate from his council duties”, however, following bail being granted, it is understood he intends to return to his mayoral role in the coming weeks.

The prosecution has six weeks to tender a full brief of evidence relating to the matter.

The case will return to Cairns Magistrates Court for a committal mention on 13 September, with Magistrate Scoines excusing Mr Butcher from attending in person.

Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher was bailed in Cairns Magistrates Court on 4 July after being charged with seven offences including grievous bodily harm, strangulation and suffocation. Photo: Cape York Weekly.