Ben Hoffmann flags bid to take back guilty pleas following six week triple murder trial

Triple murderer Ben Hoffmann is seeking a ‘review of the whole case’ to ‘go through every shred of evidence for a thorough, perfect second opinion whether to go ahead with the plea’.

UPDATE: DARWIN gunman Ben Hoffmann will have one last chance to have his legal aid funding restored after securing a final review from the NT Legal Aid Commission.

The funding was withdrawn after Hoffmann sensationally sacked his legal team, led by experienced criminal barrister, Jon Tippett QC, in November.

But following a hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, a review panel will now rule on whether to reverse that decision for a potential change of plea or, failing that, to assist in making submissions on his sentence.

If the panel does not rule in his favour, Hoffmann will likely then be forced to face a sentencing hearing later in the year unrepresented.

The case will now return to court on February 11.

EARLIER: “No one cares” about Ben Hoffmann.

The confessed triple murderer continued to bemoan the injustice of it all in the Supreme Court on Tuesday as he begged for more time to replace his sacked lawyers and flagged a desire to potentially reverse his guilty pleas.

Those pleas, to three counts of murder and one of manslaughter, for Hoffmann’s 2019 shotgun rampage across Darwin, were sensationally entered towards the business end of a six week trial last year.

But since dispensing with the services of his legal team, led by experienced criminal barrister, Jon Tippett QC, in November, Hoffmann revealed his legal aid funding had now been withdrawn.

The shotgun found in the HiLux Ben Hoffmann was driving during the killing spree.

“I’m in a crisis situation, I’ve been trying really hard, I’m very upset, no one wanting anything to do with me,” he told Justice John Burns on Tuesday.

“It’s gotten to the point where no one wants to do anything for me, or no one cares.

“I assure you, Judge Burns, I’m trying very, very hard in a town that might not like me or want to do anything for me.”

The court heard Hoffmann was now seeking a “review of the whole case” to "go through every shred of evidence for a thorough, perfect second opinion whether to go ahead with the plea”.

“I have no intention to rush this process, I cannot rush either process, and either way, I’ll need funding and unconflicted representation (that) I’m having problems with in the Northern Territory,” he said.

In adjourning the hearing so Hoffmann could make a last ditch bid to overturn the decision to withdraw legal aid, Justice Burns warned there was “no guarantee” the court would entertain his change of heart.

Ben Hoffmann is treated by staff at Royal Darwin Hospital after his arrest on June 4, 2019.

“You do not have a right to change your plea, you may seek leave to withdraw your pleas of guilty, but in order to do that, you would need to adduce appropriate evidence, not just statements made by you, standing there in the dock,” he said.

“You would need, effectively, to waive any legal privilege that may exist between you and your lawyers, so that your lawyers would be able to give evidence about what advice they gave you and the circumstances in which you entered your plea(s) of guilty.”

The case returns to court at 2pm.