Benjamin Hoffmann sacks Legal Aid lawyers, claimed coerced into guilty plea

Darwin shooter Benjamin Hoffmann has claimed he was ‘bullied and coerced’ into making a guilty plea. ‘I’m not this mass murderer everyone is making out me to be’.

MASS murderer Benjamin Hoffmann has claimed he was “bullied and coerced” into making a guilty plea and has asked for a retrial despite losing a second team of lawyers.

Standing in the Supreme Court dock on Thursday, Hoffmann announced he would be representing himself after his Legal Aid application was terminated.

The mass murder slouched forward as he declared: “I am not guilty, I am mentally ill”.

Hoffmann told the court that he had sacked his senior counsel Alex Tees and Bruce Levit, only a month out of his expected sentencing date.

This is the second round of legal representation Hoffmann has lost since his 2019 murder-spree through Darwin.

The 47-year-old initially pleaded not guilty for the shooting rampage, which claimed the lives of Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois and Rob Courtney, as well as the manslaughter of Nigel Hellings.

After 20 days of evidence, including hearing from 120 witnesses, Hoffmann pleaded guilty in November in his Supreme Court trial.

Ben Hoffmann in the Darwin Supreme Court. Sketch: Stuart Thornton.

Eight days after his plea Hoffmann fired his lawyers, with his new representatives arguing the 47-year-old was unfit to plead because of his mental state.

In early April, the special hearings application was rejected as “absurd” by Justice John Burns, saying it could result in Hoffmann being left in custody “indefinitely” on remand.

Reading from two handwritten letters on Thursday, Hoffmann asked to change his guilty plea due to his mental state, claiming his previous legal team “took advantage of me when I was vulnerable”.

“I am asking for a retrial. I am frightened of not getting the help I need,” he said.

“I don’t want to deteriorate more … I don’t want to be at the point of no return.”

Hoffmann said he was on 410 milligrams a day of antipsychotic medication to treat his “voices and visions”.

“I’m not this mass murderer everyone is making out me to be. (I’m) not some sort of murdering type person,” Hoffmann said.

“I was a scared man mentally ill before the incident, during the incident, even now.”

Despite firing his Legal Aid senior counsel, Hoffmann asked for his junior counsel Dr Patricia Petersen to lead his case, saying she was the only person he trusted.

Hoffmann was visibly upset when Dr Peterson told the court given her limited experience it would be unethical and unprofessional for her to take on the case without mentorship.

He huffed and looked up at the screen broadcasting her video link.

“She was the one doing everything, she knows my case, I trust her. I don’t know why she said that,” Hoffmann said.

A shaky video link meant Hoffmann’s former legal team dropped out of the court every 60 seconds, much to the frustration of Justice Burns who was already dealing with interruptions from Hoffmann.

“It appears to me that the reason you are without legal representation is your own fault,” Justice Burns said.

“You have chosen to dispense with the services of two sets of lawyers.”

Justice Burns said he would not change Hoffmann’s sentencing date on May 27, but set down a May 5 deadline for a directions hearing for any submission to change the plea.

Originally published as Benjamin Hoffmann sacks Legal Aid lawyers, claimed coerced into guilty plea