Bail justice unaware of Bourke St killer’s prior convictions
The bail justice who freed Dimitrious Gargasoulas days before the Bourke St massacre has told an inquest he wasn’t informed of Gargasoulas’ criminal history before granting bail, but a senior police officer says otherwise.
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The bail justice who freed James Gargasoulas days before the Bourke St massacre insists he wasn’t provided his criminal history and has accused police of lying.
Christos Pantelios has told the inquest into the Bourke St deaths he asked for a copy of any prior convictions – if they existed – before the bail hearing when he met with Senior Constable Jake Semmel.
But he insists the document was not given to him during the bail hearing and denied it was sitting in front of him throughout it.
Snr-Const. Semmel told the inquest last week he did provide the criminal history which also included instances of failing to appear while on bail.
Rachel Ellyard, the barrister acting for Snr-Const. Semmel, produced the document that showed it was printed out prior to the meeting and said it defied logic it would not have been shown to him to support the police argument.
Mr Pantelios said his memory was “polluted” from media reports after the January 20, 2017 tragedy and he could not recall several aspects of the hearing.
“If it was in front of me I would have looked at it,” Mr Pantelios said.
Mr Pantelios consistently answered “I don’t recall” as several statements about the bail hearing were put to him at the inquest on Monday morning.
He did not deny it was printed but said it was not handed to him.
Ms Ellyard said it was “just not plausible” Snr-Const. Semmel kept it “in his possession”.
She put it to Mr Pantelios that he had grappled with the consequences of the hearing and the subsequent attack in Bourke St with “anguish and sincerity” but his memory was flawed.
“I suggest you don’t remember,” Ms Ellyard said.
“I disagree,” Mr Pantelious said.
Earlier on Monday, he did concede however some of his memories were “mixed” when he made notes in the days after the attack.
“My mind has been polluted by the media reports after the tragedy,” Mr Pantelios said.
He could not also recall several significant aspects of the hearing – but opposed the accounts of what police have previously given.
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In particular, he said he was not told Gargasoulas was delusional and likely drug affected.
Bail justices are specially-trained volunteers who are called after-hours when someone is charged by police to determine if they should be bailed or remanded in custody to appear in court at a later date.