Weapons charges against Anthony Perre, son of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre, dropped by police

WEAPONS charges against the son of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre have been dropped, with no other charges laid for the 45,000 rounds of military-grade ammunition.

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SERIOUS weapons charges against the son of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre have been withdrawn by police prosecutors.

Anthony Perre, 35, and his wife Emma Perre were charged with possessing the 750kg of reportedly armour-piercing ammunition after it was allegedly found at their Waterloo Corner home on November 17, 2016.

Perre’s lawyer James Noblet appeared in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court for a scheduled pre-trial conference on Wednesday.

Police prosecutors withdrew the charges during the short hearing where Mr Perre, a prominent northern suburbs lawyer, did not appear and was representing his own clients in another courtroom at the Magistrates Court.

Perre was also charged with possessing prescribed equipment for growth of three cannabis plants and diverting power to run the makeshift lighting.

On April 7, 2017, Perre was fined $1400 for both charges while all charges against his wife were dropped during a court hearing on May 9.

Mr Noblet did not comment outside court but agreed it was a good outcome for his client.

Photo evidence of Anthony Perre’s bunker at Waterloo Corner.

Police located the cannabis set up and ammunition cache in a bunker hidden beneath a trap door in a shed equipped with surveillance cameras and an alarm at the rear of the property.

Inside the bunker was a large quantity of electrical equipment and plant nutrients commonly used in hydroponic cultivation.

In a separate shed detectives found crates of ammunition which totalled 45,000 rounds of live ammunition.

The 750kg haul included military grade armour-piercing bullets, .50 and .762 calibre rounds.

Police also found 10 firearms, which were legally stored and registered, at the premises.

A SAPOL spokesman said they would not go into details of the prosecution’s work on the charges but said the decision was based on the chances of a successful prosecution.

“It is not appropriate to comment on exactly what led to the decision to withdraw the charges, however SA Police are confident that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction in this matter,” a police spokeswoman said.

Perre’s bunker was beneath a trap door in a shed equipped with surveillance cameras and an alarm.

In the wake of the charges against Perre, the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner launched an investigation which could have had his practising certificate suspended.

President of the Law Society of SA, Tony Rossi, said while the matter had been referred to the commissioner, Perre was legally entitled to continue practising.

“The Law Society has previously referred the matter to the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner, and we expect that the Commissioner, being seized of the matter, has been closely monitoring developments,” Mr Rossi said.

“The Commissioner has the power under the Legal Practitioners Act to take disciplinary action on his own initiative. Presently, in accordance with the law, Mr Perre is entitled to continue practising as a lawyer.”

The Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner refused to comment.

Perre is the son of Domenic Perre, a former suspect in the 1994 bombing of the National Crime Authority which claimed the life of WA detective Geoffrey Bowen and severely injured lawyer Peter Wallis.

Other members of the Perre family, including Domenic and his brother Francesco, were arrested last week for allegedly being part of a drug syndicate.