Jason Roberts ‘corrupted’ by Bandali Debs before string of terrifying robberies

Jason Roberts is back in court over a spate of terrifying armed robberies, weeks after he was acquitted of the Silk-Miller killings.

Jason Roberts has again fronted court, weeks after he was freed. Picture: David Caird

Less than two months after he was acquitted of the Silk-Miller police murders, Jason Roberts has again fronted court to learn his fate over a spate of terrifying armed robberies.

Roberts was, in July, found not guilty of the double homicide of officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller during a marathon retrial two decades in the making.

Roberts, who always maintained his innocence, spent 22 years behind bars of the 1998 shooting deaths during an ambush on Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin.

At the beginning of the fresh trial – triggered by a Herald Sun investigation, which found Roberts’ original trial had been tainted by police corruption – Roberts pleaded guilty to carrying out 10 armed robberies in the five months leading up to the police murders.

Bandali Debs masterminded a series of terrifying armed robberies.

During a pre-sentence hearing in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday, the court heard Roberts, who was aged just 17 when he committed the robberies, had been “corrupted” by his girlfriend’s father, convicted serial killer Bandali Debs.

Defence barrister David Hallowes SC said Roberts life was “irrevocably changed” after meeting Debs, who planned and carried out the frightening armed hold-ups with the help of his young apprentice.

The court heard Roberts’ own father had died when he was just 11 years old and the influence of Debs “loomed large”.

“In circumstances where Jason Roberts had lost his father, he came under the influence of Bandali Debs,” Mr Hallowes said.

“There is an element of him being corrupted by Bandali Debs,” he said.

Jason Roberts was acquitted of the Silk-Miller police murders earlier this year.

During Roberts’ second murder trial, the court heard he and Debs donned masks, carried pistols and rope and targeted restaurants, fast-food venues and retail stores throughout Melbourne southern and eastern suburbs.

Justice Stephen Kaye on Thursday the robberies were “designed to be terrifying”.


One victim, a retail worker at Sportsmart, told the court she had shut herself off from the world following the ordeal.

“I struggle to deal with the simplest of life’s tasks,” she said in a victim impact statement read to the court.

“I feel like I have been imprisoned myself for the last two decades and I was an innocent victim of his crime,” she said.

Mr Hallowes said they did not shy away from the fact Roberts’ crimes were serious and traumatic for the victims.

Roberts, who is on bail, is not expected to serve any further time behind bars for the robberies, but the length of sentence imposed could affect any claim for compensation he makes for the 22 years he spent in prison for the murders.

Justice Kaye will deliver sentence on Monday.