Peter Dunstan, aka Cliff Roger Cicolini to face five day NT trial over alleged helicopter heist
A cross-border investigation into an alleged Territory chopper fraudster has complicated his upcoming Supreme Court trial, which will now be ‘cauterised’ to a five-day hearing.
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An alleged Territory fraudster accused of a bizarre helicopter heist is also being pursued by West Australian police, a judge has heard.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Chief Justice Michael Grant said on Wednesday as he opened the pre-trial hearing for Peter Dunstan, also known as Cliff Roger Cicolini.
Mr Dunstan has been charged with theft and obtaining benefit by deception over allegations he flew off from an outback airport with a chopper and hid it away for 11 months.
It is alleged the Katherine region man paid a deposit for a Robinson R22 helicopter in June 2021 from the Weddell airfield.
Mr Dunstan allegedly failed to ever return the chopper, and refused to pay the outstanding bill.
It took almost a year for police to track down the Robinson R22 to the 50-year-old’s Bradshaw property, approximately 300km south of Weddell.
Since February, prosecutors have been flagging additional charges could be laid, blowing out a potential Supreme Court trial to four weeks.
However on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Steve Ledek said the Chief Justice’s apprehension about the case was well placed.
“Your extrasensory perception is fairly accurate, in so far that the trial which was allocated for three weeks will no longer need that full term,” he said.
Mr Ledek said Mr Dunstan’s case would be narrowed down and simplified to a five-day trial, focusing only on the chopper charges.
Justice Grant said he understood a “raft of evidence in relation to other transactions” was going to be used to contextualise the alleged helicopter heist.
However, Mr Ledek said that evidence would no longer be relied on in the shorter five-day trial.
Mr Ledek told the Supreme Court that Mr Dunstan was now facing “serious” cross-border allegations in Western Australia, which involved two police jurisdictions.
“It’s very involved and includes some matters that I may now be involved in as a witness, unfortunately,” Mr Ledek said.
He said any potential future charges would need to be “completely cauterised from these proceedings”.
Defence barrister Brooke Houen said a further hearing would be needed to consider the shorter trial plan.
Mr Dunstan’s hearing was adjourned to January 17, 2025.
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Originally published as Peter Dunstan, aka Cliff Roger Cicolini to face five day NT trial over alleged helicopter heist
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