Qld: Costs still adding up in Ryan case
By Ainsley Pavey
ROCKHAMPTON, Qld, Aug 8 AAP - Police were still adding up the cost of an investigationinto the disappearance of back-from-the-dead teenager Natasha Ryan, a court was told today.
Ryan, 19, and her milkman boyfriend Scott Black, 27, have been charged with causinga false police investigation after she was found, during the trial of a serial killeraccused of her murder.
The pair, who now share a house in the central Queensland town of Rockhampton whereshe hid for more than four years, were excused from their first court appearance in theRockhampton Magistrates Court today.
Lawyers acting on their behalf faced the hearing before Rockhampton magistrate TomBradshaw, who adjourned the case until December 12 while police add up the costs.
The court heard that further inquiries were being made by the investigating officerinto the costs after Rockhampton man Lenny Fraser was charged with Ryan's murder.
Ryan and Black are facing one charge each under the Police Administration Act withfalse representation by conduct and statements, causing a police investigation betweenAugust 1998 and April 11, 2003.
Black's solicitor, Joanne Madden, and Ryan's lawyer, Emma Hunter, did not oppose thepolice request for the adjournment, which was made because the investigating officer wason holidays.
Fraser was cleared earlier this year of murdering Ryan, but was jailed indefinitelyafter being found guilty of the murder of two other women and the manslaughter of a thirdwoman in the city.
It was estimated it cost about $30,000 to search for Ryan, who disappeared in August1998, and turned up in April this year when police acting on a tip searched Black's houseand found her hiding in a cupboard.
Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission has held private hearings with Ryan aboutthe circumstances surrounding her disappearance, and how she led authorities and her familyinto believing she was dead.
AAP ap/ac/sc/ak/de
KEYWORD: RYAN (PIX AVAILABLE)
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