$13m pledged to Director of Public Prosecutions and Legal Services Commission as part of Operation Ironside funding
Millions of dollars have been pledged to both prosecutors and the Legal Services Commission ahead of a flood of Operation Ironside trials slated to begin next year.
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More than $13m will be funnelled to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Legal Services Commission ahead of a flood of Operation Ironside trials slated to begin next year.
The State Government in the mid-year budget review has pledged $7.98m to assist the DPP run the complicated cases, which involve tens of thousands of messages sent and received over the encrypted AN0M app.
The Legal Services Commission, which is expected to play an increasingly significant role in supporting Ironside accused come trial, will receive $5.26m.
Almost a year and a half on from Ironside “resolution day” in June 2021, when a slew of arrests were made, District Court dates for trials are starting to be set.
Proescutions of allegedly largescale drug trafficking and manufacturing syndicates with up to nine accused, as well as smaller prosecutions, are slated to begin next year.
The trials of two groups of men charged with conspiracy to murder have yet to be set by the Supreme Court.
However, all the cases are waiting on the outcome of a test case being run in the Supreme Court.
That trial is probing the legality of the entire operation including the validity of warrants, the relationship between AFP and the FBI, and how the AN0M app fundamentally worked.
The pre-trial proceedings in that case were expected to be completed this month, but have already been extended into January.
In the meantime it is likely that people arrested as part of Ironside and charged with serious offences will continue to be granted bail, as the courts accept there will be up to several years before some trials are heard.
The additional funding pledged by the state government brings the total investment in Ironside to more than $22m.
On the other side of the balancing book is an estimated $38m in assets belonging to the Ironside accused and frozen by the courts.
Upon conviction for serious drug trafficking offences, those assets are liable to be forfeited to the state.
Attorney-General Kyam Maher said Ironside was one of the most significant investigations ever undertaken in SA.
“The level of expertise and resources required through all facets of the criminal justice system are unprecedented,” he said.
Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said it was vital for the DPP and law enforcement agencies to be funded properly as they pursue the complicated cases.
An additional $300,000 to Forensic Science SA to manage the expected case load of Ironside trials and $298,000 to SAPOL’s digital evidence section have also been pledged.
IRONSIDE BY THE NUMBERS
■ 104 people arrested
■ 13 charged with conspiracy to murder
■ $38m in assets seized
■ 39 firearms seized
■ 3 clandestine labs shutdown
■ 69kg of methylamphetamine seized
■ 20 litres of methylamphetamine oil seized
■ 45 litres of fantasy seized
■ 10,000 ecstasy tablets seized
■ 350kg of cannabis seized
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Originally published as $13m pledged to Director of Public Prosecutions and Legal Services Commission as part of Operation Ironside funding
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