Domenic Perre launches appeal against NCA bombing guilty verdicts, claiming a miscarriage of justice

Convicted NCA bomber Domenic Perre has launched an appeal against the guilty verdict which could see him locked up for life. He claims the verdict was a “miscarriage of justice”.

Convicted NCA bomber Domenic Perre was the victim of a miscarriage of justice when he was found guilty of murdering Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and the attempted murder of lawyer Peter Wallis, his lawyers claim.

Perre has lodged a notice of appeal against his conviction for both charges, in which his legal team lays out 15 grounds of appeal.

The notice of appeal, released by the courts, contends that Justice Kevin Nicholson erred in finding Perre guilty when there was no direct evidence that he had access to materials to make the bomb, or the knowledge to make it.

Sgt Bowen was killed and Mr Wallis seriously injured when a package bomb exploded in the NCA offices on Waymouth St on March 1, 1994, showering the street below with glass.

Detective Sergeant Geoffrey (Geoff) Bowen, was killed by a parcel bomb at The National Crime Authority (NCA) building in1994.

Lawyer Peter Wallis was blinded and sustained burns to 40 per cent of his body in bombing of 1994 National Crime Authority's (NCA) Adelaide office. Mr Wallis died in 2018.

The damaged National Crime Authority building in Waymouth St, after the parcel bomb explosion.

Perre pleaded not guilty to the two offences and stood trial over 11 months in the Supreme Court.

Justice Nicholson retired to consider his verdict in September last year and took nine months to return with a 530-page judgment earlier this month.

Over the course of his voluminous verdict, Justice Nicholson set out in detail his reasoning for finding Perre guilty in the absence of forensic evidence linking the now 65-year-old to the bombing.

Rather, Justice Nicholson pieced together the circumstantial evidence linking Perre to the bombing.

Perre’s legal team, which was headed at trial by Gilbert Aitken and Andrew Culshaw, contend that Justice Nicholson should have discarded the evidence of two key prosecution witnesses.

A key strand of the evidence was the testimony of Allan “Gadget” Chamberlain, a key witness who was cross examined for several days by Perre’s legal team.

In March 2021, Perre was seen in a wheelchair, in a court walk around the streets in which he allegedly lurked before, during and after the 1994 bombing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Mr Chamberlain had agree to hide Perre’s gun collection in 1994 and also conceded that he had initially lied to police when spoken to five days after the bombing.

The following day, on March 7, 1994, Mr Chamberlain agreed to co-operate with police, but at trial conceded he had been under “stress”, “duress” and “intimidation” at the time.

In his grounds of appeal, Perre argues it was “unsafe” for the court to accept the evidence of Mr Chamberlain and a second witness known during the trial as “FF”.

Perre contends that Justice Nicholson erred in concluding that the only rational conclusion was that he was behind the NCA bombing.

Perre will next face court in September for sentencing submissions.

A callover for the appeal application will be held in the coming months.