Sexual conquest betting book dismissed as ‘ridiculous’ despite office ‘banter’, court hears

SUGGESTIONS a ‘black book’ of sexual conquests was circulating within the NT Police drug squad in the early 2000s are ‘ridiculous and offensive’, despite ‘banter’ between officers being commonplace, a court has heard

NT Police Commander James O’Brien leaves the Supreme Court after giving evidence in the trial of former Assistant Commissioner Peter Bravos. Picture: Glenn Campbell

• Rape allegations against former NT Police Assistant Commissioner revealed as trial gets under way
• Alleged rape victim in Bravos trial more ‘embarrassed’ than upset, court hears

SUGGESTIONS a “black book” of sexual conquests was circulating within the NT Police drug squad in the early 2000s are “ridiculous and offensive”, despite “banter” between officers being commonplace, a court has heard.

The evidence emerged in the trial of former Assistant Commissioner Peter Bravos on Friday after the one time drug squad member pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court to two counts of rape dating back to 2004.

Fellow drug investigator, now retired Senior Constable Romolo Dalla Costa, told the court “there was a lot of banter going around” in the office, some of which had “sexual undertones” including the phrase “ginger minge”.

Mr Dalla Costa said “probably everybody” in the unit, including himself, had used the expression.

Mr Dalla Costa said while the banter could at times be sexist, the officers were “just joking” and agreed that the women “could give as good as they got” under cross examination by defence barrister John Lawrence SC.

“It was just banter, there was no maliciousness about it,” he said.

“If someone’s a redhead, male or female or anything, well their pubes should match the colour of their hair so a ginger minge is basically ginger pubic hair.”

But Commander James O’Brien, so far the most senior police officer to take the stand, read from a statement he gave investigating police in 2018 in which he said he never heard of the existence of any betting book during his time on the drug squad.

“The suggestion of such a book is ridiculous and offensive and I’m confident that there’s never been such a book,” he said.

Cmdr O’Brien said if there had been such a book doing the rounds he “would have known about it” and any suggestion the betting odds were discussed via the squad’s computer systems instead was “equally ridiculous”.

Cmdr O’Brien told the court he first became aware of the allegations against Bravos via inquiries made to the police media unit in about 2015 but distanced himself from any investigation due to a prior friendship with him.

Senior Sergeant Geoffrey Banhert told the court the victim had visited him within a week of the alleged rapes and told him she had been “very drunk” and “crashed out on the bed” after going back to Bravos’ house following an emergency services function.

“(She said) they had a coffee and then continued to drink alcohol and then following that she had gone to sleep and she woke up having her top lifted up and somebody touching her breast,” he said.

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“She said at some stage she was really drunk and then had engaged in sex or played some part in having sex and she nominated that person to be Peter Bravos.”

The trial continues on Tuesday.

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