Court sets date for Bowraville retrial bid

A hearing to determine whether there is fresh and compelling evidence to retry a man previously cleared of murdering Aboriginal youths in Bowraville has been listed for November.

The man, who can't be named for legal reasons, was previously acquitted of murdering four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux in late 1990 and early 1991, respectively, in the quiet NSW Mid North Coast town.

Justice Clifton Hoeben on Thursday set out a timetable for the application made to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal by state Attorney-General Mark Speakman seeking the retrial.

The hearing, estimated to take about four days, is scheduled to start on November 28.

Under NSW double-jeopardy laws revised in 2006, a person can be tried for the same crime for which they have already been acquitted, provided there is fresh and compelling evidence to proceed with a retrial.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry in 2014 found the initial police investigation into the Bowraville murders was flawed.

Then-NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton in May 2016 announced that "after careful consideration ... there should be no further delay in bringing this matter to court".

A third Aboriginal youth, 16-year-old Colleen Walker, disappeared from Bowraville less than a month before Evelyn was killed.

Her clothing was found weighted down with rocks in the nearby Nambucca River but her body has never been located.