‘Betting book’ of sexual ‘conquests’ by police officers sparked Bravos rape allegation, court hears

A ‘WHISTLEBLOWER’ who made a complaint against former top cop Peter Bravos may have been motivated by a desire to see his policing career in tatters, a court has heard.

Former NT cop Peter Bravos will face trial in the Supreme Court on July 27. Picture: Ivan Rachman

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A ‘WHISTLEBLOWER’ who made a complaint against former top cop Peter Bravos may have been motivated by a desire to see his policing career in tatters, a court has heard.

Bravos has indicated he will plead not guilty to historic rape charges dating back to 2004 when he faces trial in the Supreme Court in July.

His barrister, John Lawrence SC, last week asked the court to force the Independent Commission Against Corruption to reveal the whistleblower’s identity so she could be cross examined about her motivations.

In ordering the ICAC to turn over its documents and unmask the informer to the defence on Wednesday, Justice Stephen Southwood ruled she may have been motivated by “the purpose of halting (Bravos’s) progress in the NT Police force”.

“I’m of the opinion that the evidence which I have received, including the disclosure document, is capable of giving rise to a reasonable possibility that the discloser (and two others) took steps to cause an investigation into the conduct of the accused with the purpose of halting his progress in the NT police force and potentially causing the termination of his employment,” he said.

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“Whether the evidence does in fact do so or not will, of course, be a matter for the jury at the trial.”

In making the application last week, Mr Lawrence told the court Bravos’s alleged victim only made a report to police after becoming aware of a “betting book” of sexual “conquests” rumoured to be circulating among male officers.

In handing down his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Southwood found “pressure was put on the complainant in a number of ways” to make a statement about the alleged rape and as a result she may have “reconstructed what occurred”.

“I note that the complainant’s evidence is that she did not wish to make a formal complaint for many years because she did not want to put her family through the ordeal of a criminal trial involving sexual allegations,” he said.

“What changed her mind was being informed about the black book which was run on females in the drug squad — to her mind this meant that the incident which occurred in 2004 was not a spontaneous incident but involved some forethought.

“The Crown’s position is that there is simply no nexus between the motives of those involved in the disclosure and the decision of the complainant to make a formal complaint — these are all matters for the jury at trial.”

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Justice Southwood said it was now likely the defence would require prosecutors to call the whistleblower to give evidence and be cross examined.

“On this occasion, the interests of the accused receiving a fair trial outweigh the important public interest in protecting informants,” he said.