Domenic Perre not behind NCA bombing, appeal court told, it was dead mafia figure Bruno ‘The Fox’ Romeo

Domenic Perre was convicted of the NCA bombing despite evidence it was committed by a notorious – and dead – SA mafia figure known as The Fox, a court has heard.

Domenic Perre was wrongly convicted of the NCA bombing because a judge dismissed evidence suggesting it was masterminded by a mafia figure called “The Fox”, a court has heard.

On Thursday, Perre’s counsel asked the Court of Appeal to throw out his murder and attempted murder convictions and acquit him, not order a retrial.

Andrew Tokley KC, for Perre, said the “distorted, discrepancy-filled” evidence of those who testified against his client was “unreliable” due to their “vested interests”.

He said the court should instead have regard to a “compelling alternative hypothesis” arising from a series of police statements tendered by the prosecution at Perre’s trial.

Mr Tokley said those documents linked the making of the bomb to notorious organised crime identity Bruno “The Fox” Romeo, who died in 2016 at the age of 87.

Bruno Romeo died in 2016.

NCA bomber Domenic Perre on a heavily-guarded court tour of sites where he lurked before, during and after the bombing in 1994. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Romeo, once one of Australia’s most wanted men, was a high-ranking figure in Ndrangheta – a Calabrian mafia group – in SA and played a key role in multimillion-dollar cannabis crops.

“We say that’s a compelling hypothesis that Romeo was the man who made the bomb because it comes from the prosecution itself – it’s based on police sources, not outlier witnesses,” he said.

“If that had been taken into account by (sentencing judge) Justice Kevin Nicholson – who, in his error, excluded Romeo – then His Honour would have had to make a finding of not guilty.”

Perre, 65, is likely to die in jail following his convictions for murdering Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and attempting to murder lawyer Peter Wallis in the 1994 parcel bomb explosion.

He has maintained his innocence for decades, arguing other people – including gunsmith Allan “Gadget” Chamberlain, who gave evidence against him – could have been the bomber.

Perre has also compared the “miscarriage of justice” in his case to those of Cardinal George Pell – who was acquitted of child sex charges – and convicted murderers Peter Rex Dansie and Gerard Robert Baden-Clay.

Bruno Romeo was also known as The Fox, and was a high-ranking mafia figure in SA.

On Thursday, Mr Tokley said Justice Nicholson had made “an error” when convicting Perre – one that “permeated the entire judgment”.

“Not only is there reasonable doubt (of Perre’s guilt) in the prosecution case, there is a reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence in the evidence led by the prosecution,” he said.

“His Honour did not separately consider that reasonable hypothesis – what he says is ‘because I’ve reached a finding beyond reasonable doubt in relation to Perre’s responsibility, by so finding I have excluded all others’.

“(Australian law) says you cannot come to a conclusion (of guilt) unless you have first excluded all reasonable hypotheses, and this court will not find anything in the verdict consistent with considering the hypotheses – we’ve checked.”

The hearing continues.

Originally published as Domenic Perre not behind NCA bombing, appeal court told, it was dead mafia figure Bruno ‘The Fox’ Romeo