How Molly Ticehurst's alleged killer Daniel Billings was allowed back on the streets after he was accused of raping her three times - before her brutal death just days later

On a Saturday three weeks ago, although no-one knew it at the time, the fate of young mother-of-one Molly Ticehurst allegedly hung in the balance.

It was at a weekend hearing at Dubbo Local Court, one of three courts in the NSW central west which processes alleged offenders from Molly's hometown of Forbes, 375km west of Sydney. 

But on this particular Saturday, there was no magistrate sitting to oversee bail hearings.

Instead, court registrar Linda Cusack was presiding and 29-year-old Daniel Billings was asking for bail despite facing a raft of very serious charges.

He was accused of three counts of rape, four counts of stalking and intimidation, two counts of destroying property, including smashing car windows, and one count of animal cruelty.

All the charges related to Molly Ticehurst, her home, her vehicle with its distinctive 'MO11Y T' registration plates, and an alleged attack on her 12-week-old dachshund puppy.

Billings was represented by a Legal Aid lawyer - Bridget Byrnes - who successfully argued for his release despite the alleged reign of terror against his ex-partner.

It had allegedly begun months earlier in January and culminated in Billings arrest on April 5 and a night in the Forbes police cells.

Molly allegedly had a final brief reunion last December with drillworker Billings after their 18-month relationship had ended last July.

FREE TO GO 

On the first Saturday of Molly's last month alive, Registrar Cusack was rostered on to hear cases because magistrates do not work on weekends in some country courts.

Though less qualified than magistrates, who require law degrees, it is a long-term practice for registrars to handle bail applications by a defendant charged with indictable offences.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Edward Knight argued that Billings posed a risk to Ticehurst and had made threats against the childcare worker and mother of a young boy.

This included an extensive argument against the accused’s release application to the registrar, citing 'specific threats [allegedly] in relation to coming back, knowing where she lives, coming in the window'. 

Sgt Knight said Billings could not 'let go of the relationship', felt 'possessiveness and jealousness over' Molly, and there was a real risk of 'interfering with a witness endangering her safety'.

Billings' lawyer counter-argued that Billings had 'no criminal history, denies the allegations... [and will] not enter or go within 25km of [Forbes]'.

She persuaded registrar Cusack that Billings could be allowed back into the community while on remand, kept in check with an Apprehended Violence Order including conditions not to approach Molly, nor enter the town of Forbes.

It is not suggested the registrar acted in any way other than in accordance with the applicable law in granting bail, or that any other officer of the court did not act accordingly. 

The estranged couple had previously lived together at her home in Young Street, Forbes, after Billings moved to NSW from Queensland where he had lived with his family.

Since their split, Billings had been sharing a rental with tradesmen in suburban Parkes, 25km away, where he worked for oil exploration company Resolution Drilling.

The registrar imposed a further $5000 surety on Billings and released him which, according to Ticehurst's father Tony, alarmed his daughter enough for her to leave town.

'She went away for the first week of the AVO,' Tony Ticehurst told Nine. 'She said she was wary and nervous and couldn't sleep.'

However, Molly figured that if Billings 'was going to do something, it would be within that week'.

Ms Byrnes, Billings' Legal Aid lawyer, was 'off work today', Dubbo Legal Aid Commission told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.

FOUR DAYS TO LIVE 

At some point, Molly Ticehurst returned to her house in Young Street to try to resume her normal life.

After his release from custody, Billings is believed to have returned to Parkes and his job at the drilling company, whose website has a White Ribbon Australia donation button to 'build a nation where women are free from men's violence and abuse'.

Twelve days after his release on bail, Billings' charges against his ex-partner were listed in Parkes Local Court before Magistrate Brett Thomas, with Billings this time represented by solicitor Helen Stanbury.

The police prosecutor, Sgt Donna Rayner, reportedly did not raise the topic of Billings' ongoing release on bail.

Parkes and Forbes courts are smaller circuit courts - which don't sit every day - and part of one of the the larger hub of courts, based out of Orange.

It is not clear what written submissions may have been before Magistrate Thomas on Billings' court file, but the conditions of Molly Ticehurst's interim AVO against him and her son were clear.

Billings was not to approach mother or son, nor contact them, nor assault, threaten, stalk, harass, intimidate them, nor 'try to find' them and 'must not go within 100m' of them.

He was also prohibited from damaging any of their property or harming their pet animals. 

Police did not ask the magistrate to return Billings to custody, and later said this would not have been 'applicable in this situation'.

A spokesman added: 'The prosecution does not make a detention application after the grant of court bail, unless there has been a breach, or fresh evidence comes to light that wasn’t known at the time'. 

END GAME

How Molly Ticehurst spent her final weekend in Forbes is unclear. 

Her father, known as 'Spider' Ticehurst, is a motorbike enthusiast who had been riding bikes with Molly's son doubling on the front and appeared to enjoy a warm relationship with the boy.

Sometime between midnight and 1.50am on Monday, neighbours heard a commotion coming from her property and called police, who entered the house and found Molly's body in what officers described as 'a disturbing scene'.

Police looked for Billings in Parkes but he had allegedly decamped to an old worksite where he sometimes slept in a swag at Fifield, a tiny town with a population of just 126, about 80km northwest of Forbes. 

Police arrested Billings and took him to Parkes police station and charged him with murder, before he appeared Magistrate David Day at Orange Local Court on Tuesday.

Billings was due to appear via AVL, but chose not to enter the video booth. 

Since that brief hearing, questions have emerged about the viability of the protection of women via AVOs, and lawyers have called for an urgent review of the practice of registrars handling bail applications.

Instead of allowing defendants to apply for bail on weekends or in courts where magistrates are not sitting, the accused could be required to remain in custody until more experienced and properly legally-trained court officers are available.

While NSW Premier Chris Minns has commissioned a review of the circumstances of the Billings bail decision and has asked for advice on bail laws in relation to domestic violence cases.

Seasoned barrister Geoffrey Watson SC called for more urgent action, saying the premier's announcement of 'yet another inquiry ... is pointless and wastes valuable time'.

Writing in Nine Newspapers, Mr Watson said that 'Molly’s death tells us it is time to stop the bad things and take drastic action. And it is urgent.

'The police, with some supervision by the courts, need to be given the power to control the men accused of these offences.

'Reporting conditions and personal trackers are common means of controlling the location and conduct of suspects (and) are applied to drug dealers – why not apply them to men who place women at physical risk?'

Helen Stanbury's law firm Allwright Bourke Lawyers told Daily Mail Australia on Friday that 'we do not act for Mr Billings'.

But when asked if they had previously acted for the defendant, they said: 'We don't have anything further to say.'

Billings will next appear in Orange Local Court on June 20.