NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre seeks bail on drugs charges, tells court of ‘sense of injustice’
DOMENIC Perre feels “a sense of injustice” that he remains in custody for alleged drug trafficking while his brother, who faces more serious charges, has been released, a court has heard.
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DOMENIC Perre feels “a sense of injustice” that he is in custody for alleged drug trafficking while his brother, who faces more serious charges, has been released, a court has heard.
On Wednesday, counsel for the 1994 NCA bombing suspect urged the Supreme Court to release her client, saying “negative” perceptions about him were undeserved.
Lindy Powell QC, for Perre, said the attention of police and media had “drummed up fears” about Perre that were unwarranted when compared to his criminal history.
“It’s significant that there’s an alleged co-offender with more serious charges who was granted bail from the moment of arrest ... there is a sense of injustice,” she said.
“It’s not easy for him, in the (Adelaide) Remand Centre, with the Department (for Correctional Services’) negative attitude toward him.
“It has a negative view of him and his innocence ... there has been a drumming up of fears about things that are not correct.”
That argument failed to sway Chief Justice Chris Kourakis, who refused to release Perre on bail.
Perre, 60, of Salisbury, has yet to plead to charges of trafficking in and cultivating cannabis at a property in Chaffey, near Renmark in the Riverland.
He is further charged with unlicensed possession of several weapons.
Prosecutors allege he, his brother Francesco, sister-in-law Rita and nephew Antonio ran a hidden growing room on the property.
They further allege that, during a raid, police seized 13kg of dried cannabis, a pump-action shotgun and a Bruno self-loading rifle.
Francesco Perre has already pleaded guilty to charges over the operation, while Rita and Antonio’s case continues.
Domenic Perre is also the prime suspect in the unsolved 1994 NCA bombing that killed Western Australian Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and injured several other people.
He was charged with murder but the charge was later dropped — after a subsequent inquest the coroner asserted he was most likely responsible for the bombing.
Last week, the Adelaide Magistrates Court refused Perre’s bail application based on submissions made in police documents, which are suppressed from publication.
On Wednesday, Ms Powell said that reflected the pattern of her client’s dealings with the criminal justice system.
She said charges filed in 1980 and 1993 were dismissed while a set of 1994 allegations resulted in acquittal by a jury.
He received a $10 good behaviour bond in 1991, and served a 9½-year combined SA and NT jail term in the late 1990s for offences including a drug crop at Hidden Valley.
Ms Powell conceded Perre was serving an 18-month good behaviour bond at the time of his arrest, but argued that did not preclude him from receiving bail.
“These charges will be resisted, and so he’s facing a long time in custody on remand (and) he is not in good health.
“He suffers from diabetes and coronary heart disease, and two days ago he was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with a clot in his leg.”
She said the “popular perception” of Perre “was not justified”.
Jim Pearce QC, prosecuting, pointed the court toward the suppressed police evidence, saying it established Perre was in possession of the firearms.
He said that possession meant Perre was “a prescribed applicant” for bail under state law, and so his bid should be refused.
Chief Justice Kourakis agreed, adding that the submission about Francesco Perre’s release on bail carried “little weight” in comparison.
Perre will face court again next month.
