Bingara murder: Robert James Stonestreet sentenced for concealing Darren Willis' 2010 murder in Bingara

Robert James Stonestreet won't go back to jail after he was placed on an intensive corrections order (ICO), or jail term in the community, for six months.

Stonestreet appeared in Armidale District Court for his sentencing hearing, flanked by family, after he admitted to hiding the details of Darren Royce Willis' murder after a night drinking with friends on December 10, 2010, in Bingara.

In sentencing, Judge Jennifer English detailed Mr Willis was reported missing by his sister in 2011, about two months after he was killed in Bingara.

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Some of the details of the case cannot be reported for legal reasons, but police allege Mr Willis died after the 2010 altercation. His remains have never been found.

Judge English said had Stonestreet come forward at the time, "it may well of resulted in a different result" in finding the body, but the "opportunity was lost" to gather any forensic evidence.

A defence barrister told the court Stonestreet "was threatened quite seriously", and labelled a "dog" while in custody and had to be moved for his own protection.

The now 49-year-old was released from custody in August last year and has been on "onerous" bail conditions since, including being barred from returning to his family's home in Bingara or drinking alcohol.

"I got warned by a lot of people they would bash me," Stonestreet told the court, adding he was punched in the head and assaulted, and later moved to another jail pod for his safety.

"I was in bad danger of being killed."

The court heard he had been friends with his co-accused "for a very long time".

On the night of the alleged murder, after witnessing the incident, Stonestreet said he was told to "keep your mouth shut or else".

"I was scared for my life," he told the judge.

He said he still feels "very bad, very sorry, deeply sorry for what happened."

"I'm so sorry it happened."

He said "still to this day [I] can't believe it happened", and "it's [the] worst crime in the world. It's still hard for me to believe".

"I'm very sorry.

"I'm very sorry for the family for what they're going through. "I'm very, very sorry."

Under cross-examination, the court heard police reopened the case after new evidence came to light in 2018. Stonestreet was then arrested near Bingara in 2019 by police from Strike Force Barca.

Crown prosecutor Mark Hay questioned Stonestreet on why he "said nothing to the police at that time" when he was first interviewed in 2012 about the death.

"I was very, very scared for my own life," he replied.

Mr Hay submitted Stonestreet only admitted what had happened when police were "so to speak, onto you".

"Yes," Stonestreet agreed, later adding, "I'm very sorry for what I've done."

"I was afraid for my life, seriously, I didn't know what to say or do at the time.

"I feel very sorry that I didn't come forward in the beginning."

The defence said he had no record of violence, and the bail had prevented him from carrying out interstate work for his job; and "he's expressed remorse".

"He's had significant threats," the barrister told the court.

She said "he saw something horrendous" which he had to live with, but had now been courageous enough to speak up.

Mr Hay said the threshold for a prison sentence had been crossed because he had concealed "the most serious crime".

"He was an eyewitness, on his own account, to a murder," he submitted.

He said Stonestreet had denied police the chance to properly investigate the case or "locate the body of the deceased."

"Had he come forward, as he ought to have ... police would have no doubt had a better chance," Mr Hay said.

"It means the police were stuck between a rock and a hard place."

The court heard concealing a serious indictable offence, namely murder, carried a maximum penalty of five years in 2010, when the offence occurred.

Judge English acknowledged Stonestreet had already spent nine months and 18 days in custody; "he was threatened"; "he was bashed"; but had pleaded guilty, and was remorseful; and was working as a "contributing member of the community".

The court heard a co-offender Scott Graham Marle was due to face sentencing at a later date for also concealing the killing.

Mr Hay said Bruce Anthony Coss would face a contested committal hearing later this year, charged with Mr Willis' murder. He has not been required to enter a plea in court.

The barrister argued the deceased's body had been taken away and Stonestreet "didn't actually see where it went or what happened".

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