Falconio 'shot dead' in outback

Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees were ambushed in the outback

British backpacker Peter Falconio was shot dead on an Australian desert road and his girlfriend Joanne Lees was abducted, a court has heard.

Prosecutors alleged that Bradley John Murdoch, 45, was responsible for Ms Lees' "terrifying ordeal" in the Northern Territory in July 2001.

Chief Prosecutor Rex Wild was outlining the prosecution case on the first day of the mechanic's committal hearing.

Mr Murdoch was not required to enter a plea to murder and abduction charges.

Isolated spot

About 40 witnesses will give evidence at the hearing, which is scheduled to run for another three weeks before adjourning until August, when it will run another three weeks.

At the end of the hearing, magistrate Alasdair McGregor will decide whether evidence is strong enough to merit a full jury trial.

In his opening remarks to the court in Darwin, Mr Wild described Barrow Creek, where the alleged attack took place, as an "isolated community".

What do you want? Is it money? Is it the van? Just take it. Are you going to rape me? Joanne Lees Peter Falconio: Timeline

"Joanne Lees became aware of that isolation when she was the subject of a terrifying ordeal on the Stuart Highway," he said.

The court heard that Mr Falconio was shot dead after stopping his van to talk to a truck driver, who told him he had seen sparks coming from the exhaust.

The lone gunman then pushed Ms Lees into the passenger seat, restraining her using home-made handcuffs of cable ties and cloth tape, Mr Wild said.

She was pushed out of the van, punched and bundled into a truck with a sack over her head, he added.

The court heard that Ms Lees then shouted: "What do you want? Is it money? Is it the van? Just take it. Are you going to rape me?"

Mr Wild said she then asked the gunman if he had shot Mr Falconio, to which he replied, "No."

Ms Lees managed to dislodge the sack and escape out of the back of the truck, before hiding behind some bushes in the outback.

She flagged down a passing truck driver a few hours later, who took her to police.

Denies charges

Ms Lees, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, is expected to give her testimony when the hearing resumes on Tuesday.

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

Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has ruled that details of the evidence cannot be reported.

Mr Murdoch, who comes from Broome, western Australia, has denied charges of murder and abduction.

If convicted of murder, Mr Murdoch, a mechanic and truck driver, faces life imprisonment.