A Supreme Court judge has flagged potential issues with the way police dealt with a young mother of two who they later charged with being an accessory to murder.
Justice Stephen Campbell granted bail to 29-year-old Veronica Leanne Holten in a hearing on Friday, but said police came "close to the line" in having appeared to threaten her with the charge if she didn't tell them what she knew.
Holten is accused of driving 48-year-old Conrad Peter Lardner away from the scene shortly after he allegedly stabbed 39-year-old David Vale during an altercation in Kempsey, on the NSW mid-north coast, in March.
Justice Campbell noted prosecutors would have a difficult time proving the charge in court, given Holten only drove the accused murderer for a matter of minutes, at which time the victim was still alive.
"There is kind of the flavour that there was a threat to charge Ms Holten if she didn't make a statement about what she knew," Justice Campbell told the court.
"Charge her either with being an accomplice or concealing a serious offence - although police knew all about the serious offence."
Justice Campbell said while the facts were concerning, he didn't want to be seen to criticise any officers who weren't present in the court to defend their actions.
He said while the community expects police to be robust in investigating serious crimes, in this case he felt it went "close to the line".
Lardner was arrested in mid-March, with an initial hearing in Kempsey Local Court being told the victim allegedly identified him by name as the killer.
Multiple witnesses and CCTV footage also corroborated police's version of events surrounding the incident, the court was told.
Having spent more than two months in custody, Holten was granted bail on the condition she does not return to Kempsey other than to attend court, and regularly presents to police.
Justice Campbell told Holten regardless of the circumstances surrounding her charge she still needed to strictly comply with the conditions of her bail.
"Whatever I've said about the prosecution shouldn't lead you other than to understand you're still facing a very serious charge," he said.
