An aboriginal mother-of-seven has become the sixth person charged over the horrifying alleged stabbing murder of Newcastle man James Callahan late last year.
Dianne Fernando, 39, was charged with murder – principal in the second degree – on Tuesday over the death of Mr Callahan, 22, who was allegedly stabbed to death in Hamilton after telling a group of aboriginals not to litter in the early hours of November 17, 2024.
Fernando faced Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday where her Legal Aid solicitor made a bail application, saying his client had never been in custody, had mental health concerns and had been cooperative for release, The Newcastle News reported.
But Magistrate Janine Lacy said the prosecution case was strong, Fernando’s presence at the scene had been established, and she played an “active contribution to various parts”, including being present in one of the vehicles involved.
She further noted that Fernando was on a conditional release order for an alleged affray incident at the time of the alleged murder, and had a history of breaching court orders, before opposing her bail and adjourning her matter until April.
Her charges come after Teelah Cooper, 28, was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and concealing a serious indictable offence after presenting at Newcastle Police Station last month.
Police allege Cooper helped 33-year-old Ryan Sampson avoid apprehension until his arrest in Yeppoon on November 24. Sampson is serving a sentence in Queensland for an unrelated matter, but NSW Police are working to extradite him to face a murder charge over the death of Mr Callahan.
On November 27, George James Fernando, 43, was arrested in Moree, and Frank Allen, 35, was arrested at a Sydney jail, and both were charged with murder.
Alivia Muriel Briggs, 33, and Jason Talbot, 27, were arrested the day after the alleged attack and charged with murder. Both were remanded in custody and neither applied for bail. Newcastle Local Court heard that Talbot was out on bail after being charged with multiple domestic violence and assault offences.
Video of the alleged murder posted on social media was described by police as “shocking” and “distressing”, and shows Mr Callahan being attacked by a group of people while a woman repeatedly screams “bash him”.
One man appeared to repeatedly stab Mr Callahan in the back during the attack.
Other members of the group can be heard telling a bystander not to intervene or “I’ll smash your head in”.
Mr Callahan collapses in the street at the end of the video, and could not be saved despite the desperate efforts of police and paramedics.
The video can be viewed in this thread:
A third arrest has been made over the alleged murder of James Callahan, 22, in Hamilton, Newcastle, by a group of aboriginals last weekend.
Police allege he was stabbed to death for telling them not to litter.https://t.co/5ZzDLjLVwj
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) November 25, 2024
The keen fisherman and passionate environmentalist was farewelled by more than 100 people at Stockton breakwall on Sunday where his parents remembered him as a kind and caring soul who loved nature, The Newcastle News reported at the time.
His mother Sally said she couldn’t understand why he had been targeted.
“I just can’t make sense of it,” she said.
Superintendent Kylie Endemi, the Newcastle City Police District commander said after the attack that police would allege Mr Callahan had been murdered for telling his alleged killers not to throw rubbish on the street.
“He simply made a comment to a group of people about littering. As a result of that comment, we will allege a group of people attacked him,” he said.
“He suffered significant wounds and unfortunately passed away as a result of those injuries.”
Header image: Left, an image from video of the alleged murder. Right, James Callahan.
