Girlfriend relives outback ordeal

Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees were ambushed in the outback

The girlfriend of British tourist Peter Falconio has come face-to-face with the man accused of his murder in the Australian outback in 2001.

Joanne Lees, 30, appeared at a hearing in Darwin which will decide whether Bradley Murdoch should stand trial.

Miss Lees said a gunman flagged the couple's van down on a remote road and Mr Falconio got out. She heard a sound like a gunshot but managed to escape.

Mr Murdoch, 45, from Broome, western Australia, denies murder and abduction.

He came back and told me to be quiet and if I didn't he'd shoot me Joanne Lees World watches courtroom drama

The body of Mr Falconio, from Hepworth, has never been found but prosecutors claim there is evidence that he was murdered.

Miss Lees, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, described what she saw and heard on an isolated stretch of road at Barrow Creek, north of Alice Springs on 14 July 2001.

Sitting just a few feet from Mr Murdoch, she told the magistrate that she and her boyfriend had been driving their van towards Darwin on what was a moonless night.

A four-wheel drive had pulled alongside them, with the driver gesturing for them to stop.

The man said he had seen sparks coming from the exhaust of the van and he and Mr Falconio walked to its rear.

"I heard a bang like the sound of a vehicle backfiring, the sound of a gunshot," Miss Lees said.

I could hear him - the crunching of dried grass and branches under his feet - I wasn't even breathing Joanne Lees

"I turned around to look through the window and I saw a man standing there with a gun."

The gunman then tried to tie her up, with Miss Lees struggling until he put a gun to her head.

After being moved to his four-wheel drive, she told the court she was screaming, demanding to know whether the man wanted money or was going to rape her.

"He came back and told me to be quiet and if I didn't he'd shoot me," Miss Lees said.

The killer seemed preoccupied with something at the side of the road, Miss Lees said.

So she slowly slid herself out through the door of his four-wheel drive and ran into nearby bushes.

Drive off

The court was told how she could hear the gunman looking for her as she spent hours curled up under a bush.

"I could hear him - the crunching of dried grass and branches under his feet - I wasn't even breathing."

Ms Lees said she had tried to bite through the tape binding her wrists and attempted to rub lip balm on the ties to free herself.

Eventually, she heard her attacker drag something along the gravel and then drive off.

Help plea

Miss Lees told the court how she eventually found the courage to return to the highway and flag down a passing lorry.

She is now expected to return to the witness box on Wednesday.

The committal hearing is expected to last a total of six weeks.

Magistrate Alasdair McGregor will then decide whether evidence is strong enough to merit a full jury trial.