Zach Rolfe ‘unlikely’ to ever have been recruited if honest in application, court hears

A Queensland police report of a fight in which Zach Rolfe told NT Police he intervened to help an unconscious man ‘appears to be inconsistent’ with his version of events, a court has heard.

Zach Rolfe would likely have never been recruited to the NT Police force if he had been honest about his previous brushes with the law and military discipline, a court has heard.

Constable Rolfe was acquitted on all charges over the police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in November 2019, now the subject of an ongoing Coronial inquest in the Alice Springs Local Court.

On Thursday, a psychologist who was on the interview panel that oversaw Constable Rolfe’s recruitment, Bruce Van Haeften, told the court Constable Rolfe had not told the panel he had pleaded guilty at a military trial to theft during his time in the Australian Defence Force.

Counsel assisting the Coroner, Patrick Coleridge, said Constable Rolfe had answered “no” to a question about whether he had had “any disciplinary problems when you served in the military”.

Mr Coleridge said this was contrary to the fact that Constable Rolfe had “pleaded guilty to a charge of theft” in a military court and been given “a notice to show cause why he shouldn’t be terminated”.

“He was put on, in effect, a 24-month probation period,” he said.

“The fact that he was on probation was the reason that the ADF cited for not permitting him to join the SAS when he applied.”

Mr Coleridge said Constable Rolfe did disclose that he had received a fine for public nuisance after he “intervened to protect (an) unconscious man and ended up in the middle of (a) fight” while stationed in Townsville.

But he did not tell the interviewing panel he had been rejected by the Queensland Police Service and disqualified from reapplying for 10 years after failing to disclose the fine in his application to join that police force.

In response to a question on the application form asking whether he had “any pending applications with any other police service”, Mr Coleridge said Constable Rolfe had answered yes, but did not tell the panel that the application had subsequently been rejected.

Mr Van Haeften said it was now apparent that the application “was not pending and had been discounted by the Queensland police”.

Queensland police said Zach Rolfe ‘decamped in a taxi’ with ‘the offender’ after a fight in Townsville. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“I think in relation to pending, most applicants understand that to be ‘I’ve applied for a job and the outcome has not been arrived at, I’ve not been told that I don’t have the job, or my application’s not being considered, or I’m awaiting some level of outcome’,” he said.

“It would have been relevant in the context of why was it not proceeded with by Queensland police, and why was it considered an integrity issue, and it would also have been relevant in the context of information potentially being withheld that would be considered relevant for his application with the NT Police.”

Mr Van Haeften said had he been aware of it at the time of the interview, the failure to disclose the earlier theft “would have been assumed to be deliberate” and “it would be perceived as deceit”.

“It would be perceived as instrumental, so deliberately not disclosing a matter that would have been significant, both in a military career, and very different to disclosing a fight defending another unarmed person in public and getting a fine in relation to that,” he said.

“So there’s a significant difference in terms of a disciplinary issue and that it would have been deliberately withheld as information provided to the organisation at that panel.”

Mr Coleridge asked Mr Van Haeften whether he would have recommended Constable Rolfe as “suitable for recruitment” if he had learnt of the omission of the theft charge from his interview.

“If I’d discovered that type of omission for any candidate, it’s unlikely that I would have recommended his appointment due to the perceived dishonesty,” he said.

“(And) the importance of being honest and forthcoming with relevant information.”

The court also heard the interviewing panel never checked with Queensland police as to whether Constable Rolfe’s account of the Townsville fight had been accurate.

Mr Coleridge quoted from a Queensland police report of “what appears to be the incident Constable Rolfe told you about”.

“It is alleged that the male was pushed with some force, resulting in him falling backwards and hitting his head, the male was unconscious for a matter of minutes,” he read.

“The offender, with another male, has decamped in taxi number 21 from the nightclub precinct.

“(Police) intercepted this vehicle outside Lavarack Barracks, confirming the two male occupants identity, this being – and that’s redacted – and Rolfe, both are members of the ADF.”

A still of body-worn camera footage of Zach Rolfe arresting Kumanjayi Walker in Alice Springs in 2019.

Mr Van Haeften agreed that the official police record “appears to be inconsistent with the account” provided by Constable Rolfe at his recruitment interview.

“We don’t know what the source of this information is, or whether it’s correct but you’d agree it was important that those who were deciding whether or not Constable Rolfe was recruited checked to see whether accounts he gave about prior criminal offending were consistent with the records held by other police services,” Mr Coleridge said.

“It might have turned out, after conducting further checks, that Constable Rolfe’s account was entirely accurate, but it might have turned out that it was a fabrication.

“Until those probity checks were conducted, it would be impossible to say, correct?”

Again, Mr Van Haeften said he agreed but said he did not know “why those checks weren’t done in Constable Rolfe’s case”.

The inquest continues.