Accused NCA bomber Domenic Perre spat on SA Police officer during interview over alleged prison assault, SA court told
The man accused over the fatal 1994 National Crime Authority bombing allegedly spat on an SA Police officer investigating his claims he was assaulted by a fellow prisoner.
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NCA bombing accused Domenic Perre spat on an SA Police officer who was investigating the alleged murderer’s claim he had been assaulted in prison, a court has heard.
For the first time, details of Perre’s third criminal prosecution – which has been running alongside his impending murder trial and finalised drug trial – can be revealed.
On Friday, The Advertiser successfully applied for the Adelaide Magistrates Court to revoke a year-old suppression order on the allegations.
It can now be revealed Perre, 61, has yet to plead to one aggravated count of assault without a weapon.
Court documents allege the offence occurred in the Adelaide Remand Centre on November 23, 2018.
They allege Perre had, days earlier, complained that he had been assaulted inside the correctional facility by a fellow inmate.
They further allege that, during a discussion with an police officer sent to investigate the claim, Perre spat on that officer.
Perre has also pleaded not guilty to murdering Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and attempting to murder lawyer Peter Wallis with a parcel bomb on March 2, 1994.
He was originally charged days after the explosion, but those allegations were dropped six months later with prosecutors saying there was “no reasonable chance of conviction”.
Since Perre’s second arrest, in March 2018, his counsel have insisted the only new evidence comes from “a conga line” of “self-interested” prison informants.
Last month, Perre was sentenced to more than seven years’ jail for his part in a drug racket stretching across the Barossa, northern suburbs and Western Australia.
During that case, the District Court heard Perre had been urinating in his cell, smearing faeces on the walls and throwing food at guards in an act of prison protest.
On Friday, James Noblett, for Perre, said the assault charge was “the subject of ongoing negotiations” with police prosecutors.
“It has not resolved as yet, and my client has recently received a significant sentence, which he is serving,” he said.
“His murder trial was due to start next week, but it has been pushed back a week or so, and it will run for between six and eight months.
“I’m proposing this matter be put off until February or March next year for the purpose of continuing negotiations.”
Magistrate Michelle Sutcliffe agreed, remanding Perre in custody until March next year.
She also granted the application to lift the suppression order, noting it was no longer justified given Perre’s murder trial will proceed in the absence of a jury.
