Jana Armstrong’s former partner appears in court charged with murder after body found near Toowoomba | Queensland

The ex-partner of a woman whose body was found near Toowoomba at the weekend appeared in court for the first time after being charged with murder.

Dharminder Singh covered his face and appeared to be crying as he appeared via video link in Toowoomba magistrates’ court, charged with the murder of 30-year-old Jana Armstrong.

Armstrong, the mother of a four-month-old baby, went missing on July 7. His car was found a day later near his home in the Toowoomba suburb of Newtown.

Taxi driver Singh, 48, is accused of murdering his support worker (a domestic violence offence), arson and breaching bail. His lawyer stated outside court that Singh planned to plead not guilty.

On Saturday, Armstrong’s body was found by a group of hog hunters on a winding rural road off the New England Highway near Ravensbourne national park.

Police allege that the day after Armstrong disappeared, Singh deliberately and unlawfully set fire to a motor vehicle.

More than a dozen members of Armstrong’s family were in court, including the baby carried by Armstrong’s sister, Faith Isaacs.

Isaacs said his nephew was the reason he got out of bed in the morning.

“It’s going pretty well,” he told reporters. “As good as it gets.”

Footage released by police on the day Armstrong disappeared showed Armstrong embracing his son while wearing a green-and-white striped Country Road shirt, jeans and a thong.

Donations were collected by Tony’s Community Kitchen in the Queensland city, and flowers were placed outside Armstrong’s home.

Singh’s lawyer, Ramli Salehkon, of Toowoomba Multicultural Legal Service, said outside court: “My client cooperated with the police during the investigations into this matter. My client maintains his innocence.”

Judge Lisa O’Neil ordered brief evidence on September 14, and the matter will be heard again on October 1.