Murray Gentner denies accessing police database for leaked Laidley photos: Court
A high-level Detective at the centre of a probe into leaked photos of former AFL coach Dani Laidley has denied accessing a police database.
Editor’s Note: A photograph previously appeared with this story which showed (among others) Detective Senior Constable Matt Reid. The reference to a Detective Senior Constable Reid in this story does not refer to Matt Reid; he is not facing charges in relation to the Laidley matter nor is he involved in any way. We apologise to Detective Senior Constable Matt Reid.
A high-level Detective at the centre of a probe into the leaking of vulnerable photos of former AFL coach Dani Laidley has denied accessing a police database to retrieve mugshots of her.
Detective Murray Gentner faced court on Thursday facing charges of misconduct and accessing and disclosing police information without a reasonable excuse.
He is one of two Victoria Police members accused of leaking photos of Laidley which went viral following her arrest for assault in 2020.
In his recorded interview with detectives, shown to the court, Gentner described the incident as “an unfortunate set of circumstances” but denied he was the one who took the mugshot from the database.
He claimed he took the photo from the internet, which had by then gone viral.
“I’ve never accessed that database,” Detective Gentner said in the recorded police interview shown to the court.
“I couldn’t tell you exactly how I got that photo, but it’s come from the public. I certainty have zero idea who took that photograph or where it came from.”
Gentner is accused of sharing a mugshot photo of Laidley from the police’s LEAP database in a WhatsApp group he shared with a handful of other serving police officers.
A second man Senior Constable Shane Reid, who was also allegedly in the chat, has been accused of taking a photo of Laidley wearing a dress, wig and make-up at the police station and sharing it with the group.
Gentner is alleged to have posted the photo in the group chat the day after Laidley was arrested and taken to the St Kilda police station over stalking offences on May 2.
Detective Gentner, who has been in the force for 20 years, allegedly claimed in the group, as well in a text message to another former police officer, that Laidley was “a full-blown tranny” who had been stalking an ex and was “on the ice bad”.
The court heard Gentner had panicked over the content in the group’s chat amid the photographs going viral, deleting conversations and content in the messages.
He described the “banter” as a normal activity that most police officers would do while debriefing.
During the interview, Detective Josh Chadwick questioned him over his discussing of the case with a man who was no longer in the force.
“In hindsight, it’s treading a very fine line,” Gentner said during the interview.
“In hindsight, I’d be taking the option of not discussing that with him, but at the time I’d be assuming that’s something he already knows.
“I don’t think I was revealing anything that would’ve been a surprise for anyone.”
The court heard on Thursday the case could be compromised amid revelations an administrative bungle led to more than 1000 officers working without authority.
Prosecutor Neill Hutton told the court multiple charges may ultimately be dropped due to the bungle.
The sixth charge of misconduct in public office would remain unaffected.