Harriet Wran 'knocked on door as co-accused hid with knives, hammer': police

An ice-addicted Harriet Wran was on the dole, living rough and desperate for a hit when she knocked on the green door of derelict Redfern apartment B30, police will allege.

Investigators will claim the 26-year-old private school alumna played the role of "door girl" as her boyfriend Michael Lee and Lloyd Edward Haines lay in wait armed with a metal stonemason's hammer and two large knives before the fatal August 10 showdown.

Lee, 35, and Haines, 29, donned balaclavas in what was allegedly the second of two separate armed raids on dealer Daniel John McNulty by the pair over a $70 drug deal gone wrong.

Haines demanded "where is it?" after storming the apartment and a fistfight erupted in the moments before Mr McNulty's death, it is claimed.

Among the allegations are grim details of the confrontation, including claims another man in the Walker Street public housing block, Brett Fitzgerald, used a shoe rack to ward off Haines before being stabbed in the neck and hit over the head with the hammer.

The accusations levelled against Wran are a far cry from the composed young woman who recited a Shakespearean sonnet at the service of father, the late NSW premier Neville Wran, less than four months ago.

The former Sydney University student's descent into the darkness of ice abuse was visible in her gaunt and withdrawn appearance yesterday as she arrived at Sydney's Liverpool Local Court in a police truck dressed in a blue forensics jumpsuit.

Neither Wran nor Lee came up to the dock during a brief hearing in which their bail was formally refused.

Meanwhile, her mother Jill Wran refused to answer questions as she touched down at Sydney Airport yesterday for her daughter's trial.

Wran and Lee were arrested at a train station on Wednesday just hours after police released their details.

The pair was allegedly recorded on CCTV footage walking with Haines along Poet's Corner in Redfern just before the attack. It is believed Wran and Haines had only met that night.

It is claimed Wran provided a typed statement to investigators claiming that she "froze" and was "numb on ice" when the fight broke out around 7.45pm and "did what she was told" out of fear for own safety.

Wran has indicated she will plead not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder and aggravated break and enter.

Fitzgerald remains in a stable condition in St Vincent's hospital.

Source: Daily Telegraph
Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Simon Black