NSW: Huxley accused wrote suicide note, disappeared: court

AAP General News (Australia)
04-16-2008
NSW: Huxley accused wrote suicide note, disappeared: court

By Amy Coopes

SYDNEY, April 16 AAP - The man accused of attempting to murder Lauren Huxley contemplated
suicide the night she was attacked and fled Sydney the following day, a court has been
told.

Ms Huxley, now 21, was bashed, doused in petrol and left to die in the garage of her
home in Northmead, in Sydney's west, on November 9, 2005.

She was on life support for 23 days and suffered permanent brain damage as a result
of the attack.

Northmead construction worker Robert Black Farmer, 39, is standing trial in the NSW
Supreme Court for her attempted murder and arson.

The jury today was told Farmer had been released on parole in January 2005, after serving
an 18-month jail term for an earlier offence.

His ex-girlfriend Catharine Beverley and his mother, Gail, said Farmer had been depressed
in the weeks before Ms Huxley was attacked, after he was badly burned in a worksite accident.

Farmer's injuries prevented him from working and he feared he would be sent back to
jail for stealing diesel fuel - an offence constituting a breach of his parole.

On November 9, Ms Beverley said she did not see Farmer between 12.30pm and 5pm, but
when he called her that afternoon he seemed "happy and jovial".

After she had finished work that day, Farmer had driven to her home in Parramatta "just
to say hello and give me a kiss", she told the court.

"In fact, he appeared to be overly nice," Ms Beverley told the court.

It was a hot night and Ms Beverley said Farmer suggested going for a drive to visit
one of his friends.

He directed her through Northmead to Moxhams Road, where Ms Beverley said they encountered
a police road-block.

Farmer agreed they should just go home and proceeded to direct her, again taking them
to Moxhams Road, the street where the Huxleys lived.

Later that night, Ms Beverley said Farmer woke her in a distressed state and told her
he had tried to commit suicide but "couldn't do it".

"I drove your car down the M2 trying to crash into a wall," he said.

Gail Farmer said she found her son writing a suicide note in the early hours of November
10. He told her he'd "had enough" and just wanted to "sleep".

Ms Farmer and Ms Beverley both told the court Farmer disappeared later that day.

School friend Yuri Naranjo said Farmer showed up at his Southern Highlands property
on November 11 looking for a place to stay.

Mr Naranjo said Farmer asked him to keep his whereabouts a secret, and told him he'd
"done something wrong, but he didn't want to tell me and I shouldn't ask him about what
it was".

When he read about Ms Huxley in the newspaper, Mr Naranjo said Farmer told him the
"bloke who did this to Lauren" was an "arsehole".

Farmer looked "stunned" when Mr Naranjo told him the police were looking for him in
relation to the case, and allegedly said: "I've got to get out of here".

Mr Naranjo's wife, Nicole, told the court Farmer left their house on November 27 and
returned four days later, telling her he'd been "out bush".

He appeared anxious and asked if the police had been there, warning her to watch what
she said in case the house was bugged, Ms Naranjo said.

Farmer was arrested at the premises later that evening.

The trial continues.

AAP ajc/hn/srp/cdh

KEYWORD: FARMER NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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