Supreme Court rejects NCA bomber Domenic Perre’s appeal against conviction for spitting on a Detective
Convicted NCA bomber Domenic Perre has slammed the justice system after his appeal for spitting on a police officer was rejected.
Police & Courts
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NCA bomber Domenic Perre has lashed out after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against conviction for spitting on a police officer.
Perre, 65, was found guilty of assaulting a police officer following a trial in the Adelaide Magistrates Court earlier this year.
Magistrate Jack Fahey ruled that Perre had spat on Detective Brevet Sergeant Simon Cassell at the Adelaide Remand Centre in November 2018.
Sgt Cassell had been attempting to interview Perre over an earlier assault while he was on remand for both the NCA bombing and a drug trafficking charges.
Perre was convicted but not given any further penalty for the assault.
Perre appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court where he argued there was no evidence, other than the word of the police officer, that the spitting had occurred.
There was no forensic evidence or video footage of the incident and police did not immediately arrest Perre for assault.
On Thursday, Chief Justice Chris Kourakis dismissed Perre’s appeal.
After Chief Justice Kourakis had left the court, a clearly exasperated Perre threw his arms in the air.
“Of course without any evidence they find me guilty,” he said before the video link to Yatala Labour Prison was disconnected.
“The system is a total a**hole.”
Perre was found guilty in June of the 1994 bombing of the National Crime Authority building on Waymouth St.
The bombing killed Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and seriously injured lawyer Peter Wallis, who bore the wounds from the explosion from the rest of his life.
The verdict in that case followed a lengthy trial held before Justice Kevin Nicholson sitting in the absence of a jury.
In a voluminous verdict Justice Nicholson outlined the circumstantial evidence he found linked Perre to the bombing beyond reasonable doubt.
Perre was hospitalised with chest pains following the verdict.
Perre’s legal team was quick to launch an appeal, citing 15 different grounds for why Justice Nicholson’s verdict was “unsafe”.
These included a complete lack of direct evidence showing Perre had the knowledge and materials to make the bomb or had been the one to send it to the NCA building.
It is unclear when that appeal is expected to be heard.
Perre will appear for sentencing submissions in the Supreme Court in September.
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