Philip John Rollond found guilty of illegally dumping large amounts of oil drums, vehicle parts and tyres on his property

The witness in a murder trial is at the centre of another major court case in the Adelaide Hills – this time involving his own property.

Philip John Rollond was found guilty of causing serious environmental harm by pollution of the environment. Picture: Greg Higgs

A man who witnessed a murder in the Adelaide Hills has been found guilty of illegally dumping large amounts of oil drums and tyres on his property, near where the killing took place.

Philip John Rollond was a witness to the 2017 murder of Kevin Skeyhill, who was fatally stabbed by his neighbour Darren Geoffrey Lorke over a fencing dispute related to their Tungkillo properties.

In a separate unrelated matter, Rollond was also charged then later acquitted of stealing $1.5m in farming and car-racing equipment.

In March 2016, around the same time he was charged with theft, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) attended his Tungkillo farm and found at least 183 44-gallon drums, oil, used truck filters and 144 used tyres that had been buried in a pit.

The land was used by Rollond Transport, a business operating 15 prime movers that had their oil changed regularly by mechanics working on the property. Rollond Transport was registered to a company called Tara Hills Pastoral, which listed Philip Rollond as its sole director.

Kevin Skeyhill, 51, was stabbed to death at Tungkillo in 2017 over a fencing dispute. Picture: Facebook.

The court was shown Google Earth images of the yard between 2005 and 2016, which showed that the drums had been moved from the yard between November 2015 and January 2016.

A witness claimed Mr Skeyhill had helped load a tipper with the oil drums that were dumped into the pit, but an Environment, Resources and Development Court Judgement acknowledged “Mr Skeyhill had been deceased by the time of the trial”.

The EPA ordered Rollond to clean up the pollution, but the court found he failed to comply.

In February 2018, the EPA was told by police that Rollond had disposed of contaminated soil and tyres in a quarry that was also on the Tungkillo property.

Excavation revealed soil that smelt of hydrocarbon and contained vehicle parts including oil filters, rubbish and tyres.

The judgement, handed down last week by Senior Judge Michael Durrant, found that oil-contaminated soil from the pit had been transferred into the quarry.

Tara Hills Pastoral was found guilty of causing serious environmental harm by pollution of the environment, and two counts of failure to comply with the direction of an authorised officer.

As Rollond had been a director of Tara Hills Pastoral, he was also found guilty of five charges.

In 2016, Rollond was charged over the alleged theft of a distinctive trailer used to transport racing cars, as well as farming equipment over a 10-year period.

He was found guilty of seven counts of theft and jailed for three years – however the sentence was later revoked and he was acquitted of all charges after his convictions were quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Prosecutors also dropped all remaining charges laid against Mr Rollond in the Adelaide Magistrates Court – and paid his legal costs as a result.

In September 2017, the Supreme Court heard Rollond was a witness to the murder of Mr Skeyhill. Lorke was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a 20-year non-parole period.