Day-five of Craig Rumsby trial: Bystanders give evidence from night Michelle Bright disappeared

When 17-year-old Michelle Bright disappeared in 1999, people who were in the vicinity where she was last seen were called upon in court on Tuesday to recount their experiences from that night 24 years ago.

The trial of Craig Henry Rumsby, 56, continues in Dubbo's Supreme Court. He is charged with the murder of Michelle Bright in 1999 and sexually assaulting another Gulgong teenager on New Year's Day in 1998.

Rumsby has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Ms Bright has been identified with the permission of her family.

READ ALSO: 'See you tomorrow': Friend tells how she hugged Michelle Bright before disappearance

On May 2, day-five of the trial, the jury heard Gregory Hackney, Michelle Bright's neighbour and acquaintance, give evidence in court.

He lived directly across from the Brights' home on Barneys Reef Road and was invited to the same 15th birthday party as Ms Bright on February 26, 1999, after which she disappeared. They were both Year 11 students at Gulgong High School and Ms Bright would give Mr Hackney lifts to school and back home.

Mr Hackney told the court he would walk home with Ms Bright "every couple of weeks" at night time and they would take a certain route along Herbert Street and then turn onto Barneys Reef Road. He added there was not much traffic along that road at night and there were no properties in the area in 1999.

Mr Hackney described the walk home as "dark and long". He confirmed they would walk in the middle of the road whenever they walked together.

"To your knowledge, had she ever walked home by herself?," prosecutor Lee Car SC (Senior Counsel) asked.

"I believe she may have," Mr Hackney said.

He agreed with Mr Carr about last seeing Ms Bright about midnight at the birthday party where she seemed like "her normal happy self".

Mr Hackney said he went for a drive around town with some friends in a yellow Holden about 1am and returned 45 minutes later. When he came back, Ms Bright was not at the party anymore.

He told the court he had not seen her leave the party and the last time he saw Ms Bright was just before February 27 around midnight.

Mr Hackney left the party about 3am and spent the night at a friend's home before finding out Michele was missing the next day.

He confirmed he spent three hours on March 1, 1999, with a few other friends looking for Ms Bright. He said they also walked and looked along Barneys Reef Road where her body was found the next day.

READ ALSO: 'That was the last time I saw her': Loved ones speak in Michelle Bright trial

The court heard the next witness, Glenn Tomkinson, allegedly saw Ms Bright in town after she had left the party.

Mr Tomkinson had been visiting a friend in Gulgong. He said on the night of February 26, he had gone to meet that friend at the Prince of Wales Hotel where they worked.

An interactive image of the intersection of Gulgong's Mayne and Herbert streets was displayed in court to help the witness pinpoint locations.

Previously, on day-four of the trial, Ms Bright's friends Ben Howard and Faye-Maree, who now goes by the surname Genovezos, said they drove around with Ms Bright to search for their friend Lauren Ryan, who she said would be walking to the party from her babysitting job.

Mr Howard gave evidence saying Ms Bright indicated she would go home after searching for Ms Ryan. He said Ms Bright asked to be dropped off at the corner of Mayne and Herbert streets that night.

On day-five of the trial, Mr Tomkinson said he stayed at the Prince of Wales Hotel on Mayne Street until the pub closed at midnight.

Following Ms Bright's disappearance, news media had asked Gulgong residents who saw the two-door vehicle in the early hours of 27 February, 1999, to contact police with information and Mr Tomkinson said that is what he had done.

About 12.45am that day, he was at the corner of a bank nearby when he said he saw a dark-coloured two-door Hyundai pull up along the front of the Commercial Hotel with two teenage girls exiting the vehicle.

Mr Tomkinson said the pair spoke for a few seconds, hugged and parted ways with one of them getting into the front passenger seat and driving off while the other walked away.

"Describe the girl to me," Mr Carr said

"She was like any other young teenage girl," Mr Tomkinson said. "They'd taken off in the car when she pushed on the door [of the Commercial Hotel]."

"You then watched her and she walked to the corner of Herbert and Mayne streets?," Mr Carr asked and Mr Tomkinson confirmed.

"She was walking normally... no indication of being intoxicated," Mr Tomkinson said.

He said the girl then turned into Herbert Street as he saw a trio of male teenagers being loud, calling each other names and "carrying on" walking in the same direction.

After going through his statement to police in 2002, Mr Tomkinson refreshed his memory and said the group did not "hassle" the girl nor did she stop to talk to them.

Mr Tomkinson then confirmed he had spent the rest of the night at his friend's home with them.

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Mark Thomas Weatherly also took the stand to give evidence from the same night when he had been a patron at the Prince of Wales Hotel until midnight. He told the court he was affected by alcohol but not drunk. He also confirmed Mr Tomkinson was on Mayne Street.

Mr Weatherly's nephew, Aaron Weatherly, also gave evidence. He ran a private security business in Gulgong in 1999 and had done two patrols of council-owned properties the night that Ms Bright was last seen. He said he had not consumed any alcohol that night.

Both Weatherlys said they did not see Ms Bright on the night of February 26 or in the early hours of February 27, 1999.

Another witness, Peter Kolaczyk, knew Ms Bright's parents. He confirmed he had been drinking at the Prince of Wales Hotel until they called last drinks about 11.50pm on February 26.

Mr Kolaczyk said he saw a car pull up later about 12.45am and teenagers getting out of it, but could not say for sure that Ms Bright was one of them. He confirmed he walked home about 2.45am that night.

"At any point did you look down Herbert Street and notice anything at all?," defence barrister Nicholas Broadbent asked.

"No, nothing out of the ordinary," Mr Kolaczyk said.

The trial will resume in Dubbo on Wednesday.

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