'Stay with me okay?': Constable comforted alleged stabbing victim

The video was taken by Tasmania Police Constable Laura Bestwick and tendered as part of the Crown's case against 47-year-old Kerry Lee Whiting.

He is accused of murdering Adrian Paul Mayne and attempting to murder his ex-partner Natalie Joyce Harris, and pleaded not guilty to both charges.

The jury heard six officers - including Constable Bestwick - responded to reports of a stabbing at a home on Prossers Forest Road, Ravenswood early on November 25, 2021.

Constable Bestwick was one of the last to enter the building, and her body-worn camera footage showed Ms Harris lying naked and covered in blood at the foot of a staircase.

The constable could be heard on the footage telling Ms Harris to "stay with me, stay with me okay?" and asking the woman her name.

Ms Harris' breathing - captured by the camera - was laboured, however, she said her name was Natalie and she was 36 years old.

Ms Harris also said her chest hurt, and named Whiting as the person responsible for her injuries.

Constable Bestwick was in tears as the footage played, and turned away from the screens.

Other police officers attending the scene could also be heard on the footage telling somebody in a bedroom at the top of the stairs to come to the doorway of the room.

The person - identified by Constable Bestwick as Ms Harris' and Mr Whiting's son - said he could not, as he was performing CPR.

Director of Public Prosecutions Darryl Coates SC asked the constable what happened later that morning.

Constable Bestwick said she knocked on the doors of neighbouring houses to locate any witnesses or CCTV footage, however this did not result in further leads.

She said when she returned to the crime scene she was tasked with taking two children back to the police station.

The constable told the court the children were "very quiet and distressed", and the son asked if he could wash blood off his hands when they arrived at the police station.

Defence counsel Greg Melick was brief in his cross-examination.

Mr Melick asked Constable Bestwick if she gave Whiting's son permission to wash his hands, and if she watched him do so.

Constable Bestwick said she did, and observed the child washing his hands - no other part of his body.

Constable Bestwick was the fourth in a procession of police officers called by the Crown as witnesses on the second day of the trial, held on Wednesday, June 5.

The day began with further cross-examination of Rodney Walker by defence lawyer Raymond Broomhall.

This focused on photos and swabs of Ms Harris' and Whiting's son taken at the Launceston Police Station by Mr Walker.

Mr Broomhall began by asking if it was normal practice for people to be showered before being photographed in the police studio, and whether the son had washed himself.

Mr Walker said it was not the normal practise, and he had "no control" over what happened before or after he took somebody's picture.

The cross examination continued, and Mr Broomhall contended redness on the child's arms and body were welts and not possible blood stains or a skin condition as claimed by the son.

In response Mr Walker said "I'm no expert, as you already told me", referring to a similar line of questioning the day prior.

Mr Broomhall also asked about photos of an exterior tap at the crime scene, where there were clear signs of water splashing on the house wall and the ground.

He asked Mr Walker if this could be considered evidence of somebody washing a weapon, and the former Tasmania Police officer said the water was due to the tap leaking.

Next the jury heard from Senior Constable Tracy Lincoln, who analysed the contents of three phones - belonging to Whiting, Ms Harris, and their son.

Senior Constable Lincoln said she attempted to download the data from Whiting's phone using forensic software.

The contents of a messenger app and one used to control and monitor Ring security cameras were not downloaded, and Senior Constable Lincoln said she was able to obtain further evidence by unlocking the phone.

Crown prosecutor Madeleine Figg asked the senior constable how she knew the correct PIN code, in this case Whiting's date of birth.

"From experience, a lot of people use their year of birth, or date of birth as a PIN code," Senior Constable Lincoln said.

Senior Constable Lincoln downloaded multiple videos from the Ring cameras' cloud storage service - dated November 24, November 25 and November 27.

These all were filmed by security cameras installed at 11 Dalkeith Street, Waverley where Whiting lived.

On November 24, Whiting was filmed moving one of several trailers parked in the property's garden.

He then was filmed walking from the house and behind a different trailer with a blue object in hand, and while behind the trailer using the object to pump something.

The footage from November 25, filmed about 1.30am, showed Whiting walking through the garden to the second trailer, and then leaving the property carrying a bicycle.

The November 27 footage, filmed just before 1am, showed a person hurriedly entering and leaving the property.

In his cross-examination, Mr Broomhall asked Senior Constable Lincoln about two photos, which were not in the prosecution's evidence folder but accepted as evidence.

Mr Broomhall said these showed close-up shots of some grass that had been flattened by an object, however Senior Constable Lincoln did not recognise the images and said she could not "say for certain" she took them.

The jury then heard from Constable Brett Tyson, who presented several photos he took of the Dalkeith Street house as part of the investigation.

Objects photographed by Constable Tyson included a blue bicycle pump, a phone and wallet belonging to Whiting, some towels in a laundry basket with red-brown stains on them and some red markings on the floor of a bathroom.

Constable Tyson said he initially thought the markings were blood, and although he had second thoughts after closer examination he swabbed them anyway.

Other photographs were taken inside a shed on the property.

These showed two tents had been erected inside the shed, with food and drinks stashed between the tents and the shed wall.

Constable Tyson also took photos of Whiting on December 2, 2021, after his arrest, and took DNA swabs from under the accused's fingernails.

The photos showed some injuries to Whiting's lower legs.

"There were a lot of little 'scratchy marks' on the legs," Constable Tyson said.

"On his feet, there were blisters."

Mr Broomhall asked Constable Tyson if Whiting had the opportunity to have a shower before he was photographed.

"I have no idea," Constable Tyson said.