Silk-Miller conviction quashed, retrial ordered - The Age

One of two men found guilty of the Silk-Miller murders has been granted a retrial after the Court of Appeal found his conviction for killing the two Victorian police officers was unsound.

Jason Roberts, along with Bandali Debs, has been serving a life sentence for the murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, who were ambushed and killed on patrol in Moorabbin in 1998.

Jason Roberts is escorted into court in June.Credit:Joe Armao

The Court of Appeal on Tuesday morning quashed Mr Roberts' conviction for the murders and ordered a retrial.

Mr Roberts, who says he is innocent and that Debs acted alone, was granted an appeal under new Victorian laws that allow for a second appeal when there is fresh and compelling evidence.

Mr Roberts, 39, has spent two decades in custody since he and Debs were arrested.

A date has not yet been set for a retrial.

Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller.

Mr Roberts will remain in custody, but his barrister Peter Matthews said his client will apply for bail.

"Mr Roberts will lodge an application for bail, we expect in the next few days, certainly in the immediate future," Mr Matthews said.

Mr Roberts, whose first appeal was knocked back in 2005, was granted another appeal after new evidence was uncovered in an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission investigation.

The IBAC probe alleged some of the police officers who were first to the scene and comforted the dying Senior Constable Miller had their witness statements revised and backdated and gave false or misleading evidence to court.

The central point of dispute is whether Senior Constable Miller made mention of one or multiple gunmen.

One of the first police on scene, former officer Glenn Pullin, had made two statements but the original wasn’t disclosed at the 2002 trial, IBAC found.

His second statement included more of Senior Constable’s dying words, namely "they were on foot", which suggested there were multiple offenders.

The evidence before IBAC established the statement was probably made 10 months after the murders but was backdated to look as if it had been made only hours after.

Bandali Debs is led into court in 2002.Credit:Simon Schluter

The Court of Appeal heard it raised questions about the fairness of the trial and serious issues as to the reliability of evidence of what Senior Constable Miller actually said.

Mr Roberts’ barrister Peter Matthews told the appeal hearing in June there was a “deliberate manipulation of the evidence of the central issue in the trial, being the number of offenders” and the conduct of some police verged “to the point of criminal offending, being perjury”.

There was a "clear involvement of other officers" in the misconduct, he said, which represented a substantial miscarriage of justice.

"That sort of concealed very serious misconduct poses, we submit, a very serious threat to the integrity of the criminal justice system and to the work of this court," Mr Matthews said.

The scene in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, in 1998 after the two officers were killed.Credit:Wayne Hawkins

Prosecutor Ben Ihle told the hearing there was “overwhelming” evidence pointing towards two killers, which remained unaffected in the years since the trial.

Four other officers who were first on scene heard Senior Constable Miller say words that indicated there were two offenders. The call on police radio from officers on scene that night was: "two offenders, there’s two on foot."

Mr Ihle said there was also forensic evidence that showed two guns were used to shoot the policemen, that Senior Constable Miller fired in two directions, and “compelling” conversations between Debs and Mr Roberts caught on listening devices.

Mr Roberts, who had been dating Debs' daughter, admits he pulled off 10 other armed robberies with Debs before the Cochranes Road murders, which he had disputed at trial.

On the night, Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller were watching the Silky Emperor restaurant in nearby Warrigal Road. The restaurant had been identified as a potential target for another robbery by the same crew.

The policemen were shot and killed after pulling over a suspicious car on Cochranes Road.

Get our Morning & Evening Edition newsletters

The most important news, analysis and insights delivered to your inbox at the start and end of each day. Sign up here.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvc2lsay1taWxsZXItY29udmljdGlvbi1xdWFzaGVkLXJldHJpYWwtb3JkZXJlZC0yMDIwMTExMC1wNTZkMnkuaHRtbNIBb2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvc2lsay1taWxsZXItY29udmljdGlvbi1xdWFzaGVkLXJldHJpYWwtb3JkZXJlZC0yMDIwMTExMC1wNTZkMnkuaHRtbA?oc=5

2020-11-09 23:18:00Z
52781178914434

Bagikan Berita Ini