ABOUT the time Trudie Adams disappeared in Newport in 1978, two women were attacked in the area and a man was abducted, taken to Ku-ring-gai National Park, handcuffed and sexually assaulted at gunpoint, a coroner's court has been told.
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Amanda Smith, appearing at an inquest into Ms Adams's disappearance, said she had been hitching a ride on Barrenjoey Road, Newport, after 9pm on June 24, the night Ms Adams disappeared. She was trying to get to Newport Surf Club, where Ms Adams was, and accepted a lift from a man.
Instead of taking her there, the man went a different way, stopped the car and assaulted her by pulling her towards him, then pushing her head on to his lap. She had bitten the nearest part of his anatomy, belted him with her bag and escaped. He tried pursuing her, saying he would ''kill'' her.
Ms Adams left the club after midnight and was seen getting into a vehicle - described as a beige or fawn panel van - on Barrenjoey Road. She was never seen again.
Some time later, Ms Smith said, a man who might have been her attacker pulled up on an Avalon street and said: ''Hey! Remember me?'' He began to follow her, but she saw a friend, Steve Norris, who called police. They questioned the driver and let him go.
Another witness, Kirsten McKenzie, said she had been walking at night on Barrenjoey Road when a vehicle started following her. A man got out, bashed her over the head and knocked her unconscious. When she came to he was dragging her. She kicked him in the groin and screamed. Lights came on and the man fled. She told her sister the vehicle was a panel van.
In answer to Kirsten Edwards, counsel assisting the inquest, she said she had not reported the attack because it was not ''hugely unusual''.
A man, whose name has been suppressed, said about July 11, 1978, he was taken to a national park by a man he now knew as Garry Batt and by another he identified as Neville Tween [also known as John Anderson].
He was subjected to gross indignity at gunpoint and a shot was fired. The two men later pleaded guilty to performing an indecent act.
John Anderson's former wife, Sue Anderson, said that in 1978 she knew he had a criminal record and she became aware of stories about an improper relationship with a law enforcement officer. Anderson, who was now in jail and seriously ill, had denied an involvement with Ms Adams's disappearance.
John Anderson's son, Michael, born in 1978 and now serving a drugs sentence, said he felt his father had been the target of the allegations because it was hoped he would give evidence about police corruption.
The hearing resumes today.
