More than 15,000 pages of material provided to Operation Ironside accused and it’s ‘impossible to follow’, defence lawyers say

Lawyers for a group of Operation Ironside accused have been given 15,000 pages of material under the assumption they would “print it out” themselves.

More than 15,000 pages of material has been provided to the lawyers for a group of Operation Ironside accused – including the youngest South Australian arrested in the sting – but they have told a court some of the material is “impossible to follow”.

The group, which includes Apostle Broikos, 19, of Burnside was scheduled to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court next month, when prosecutors were expected to make a determination on which charges would proceed against each accused.

Instead, prosecutors had the case called on early seeking it be adjourned until February before making that determination.

“The primary reason is the matter is quite complex,” the prosecutor said.

“The scope of this investigation has significantly broadened since the first of the defendants was apprehended … it’s simply a matter of requiring more time.”

The accused men are each charged with drug-related offences, including manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug and trafficking a controlled drug at Morphett Vale and Panorama.

The offences are alleged to have happened between January 2020 and August 2020.

Apostle Broikos leaves the Adelaide Magistrates court after an earlier hearing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Mr Broikos’ lawyer David Edwardson QC – who also represented a co-accused, whose identity is suppressed – opposed the adjournment.

He said prosecutors had previously given the court assurances the case would be ready to proceed next month and that a preliminary brief would be provided.

“We have received nothing in the context of a preliminary brief,” Mr Edwardson said.

“What we have received, Your Honour, is some 15,000 pages.”

Mr Edwardson said the documents were provided on a portable drive under the notion “you can print it yourselves”.

“The prosecution must serve on the defence a hard copy of whatever it is they want to disclose and rely on,” he said.

“You can’t pass the buck by simply handing over a thumb drive and saying ‘you do it at your own cost’.”

Mr Edwardson asked prosecutors to provide an affidavit “that gives us far more detail and understanding” of the matter.

Jessica Kurtzer, for another suppressed co-accused, told the court one of the statements in relation to her client was 300 pages long.

“The spreadsheets that we are receiving are impossible to follow,” Ms Kurtzer said.

The prosecutor said all other Operation Ironside files were on track to be ready for charge determination next month, except for matters – including two separate alleged conspiracies to murder – already set down for February.

He said it was “simply not the case” prosecutors had dumped “oppressive large volumes of material” on defence.

Magistrate John Wells said he accepted that prosecutors had a “gathering storm” of information but refused the application for an adjournment.

The group will return to court for a charge determination.

Originally published as More than 15,000 pages of material provided to Operation Ironside accused and it’s ‘impossible to follow’, defence lawyers say