Peros fails in appeal over mine site assault

A Supreme Court justice found that John Peros was guilty of mine site bashing ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.

Shandee Blackburn with John Peros, the main suspect in her murder. Picture: Supplied

The man found by a coroner to have killed Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn has had his appeal against the guilty verdict in a recent assault case dismissed.

John Peros avoided jail late last year after being found guilty of common assault, and was ­instead fined $2000 and granted a spent conviction order.

Peros’s appeal was based on what his legal team said was a “miscarriage of justice” in the ­assault case, which centred on his attack on a colleague at a Pilbara mine site in 2020.

The magistrate who heard the matter, Peros argued, ought to have entertained reasonable doubt about whether the assault was not a reasonable assault to the “provocation” from his victim.

But West Australian Supreme Court judge Gail Archer found that Peros was guilty of assault, finding that no substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred.

“In my view, the evidence ­established Mr Peros’ guilt ­beyond reasonable doubt,” Justice Archer wrote.

The assault took place in June 2020, just two months ­before a Queensland coroner found that Blackburn had died as a result of a “very deliberate and targeted assault” at the hands of Peros.

That inquest followed a 2017 jury trial in which Peros was found not guilty of murdering Blackburn, who was stabbed to death as she walked home from work in Mackay in February 2013. The coroner, however, found there was no fresh or compelling evidence to re-charge Peros.

Peros has always denied any responsibility for Blackburn’s death.

The unsuccessful appeal against the guilty verdict means police will likely be able to retain the DNA collected from Peros as part of the assault investigation.

Queensland is now re-examining forensic evidence from thousands of cases after recent damning findings from the ­inquiry into the state’s forensics.

Peros, a former amateur boxer, had a verbal altercation with fellow fly-in fly-out worker Alexander Gell the night before the assault over the death of ­American George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests.

Peros told the court he said “I hope the police die for taking another life”.

Mr Gell then responded ­angrily; according to Peros, Mr Gell said “well I hope your whole family dies” and “they deserve to die”.

However, in last year’s trial Mr Gell said he told Peros he had friends and family in the police force and asked him how he would like it if Peros’s friends and family were in that situation.

Peros told the court he had ­interpreted Mr Gell’s comment as a threat to his family.

The next day, the pair were working together inside the pump room of an excavator when a physical fight broke out ­between them. Peros argued that Mr Gell had hit him first.

Colleagues then heard Mr Gell screaming, and by the time they arrived, the pair were on a walkway of the excavator. Peros was holding the back of Mr Gell’s shirt and was repeatedly punching him in his face.

Mr Gell was trying to shield his face as, according to one witness, was saying “help me, he’s trying to kill me”.

Mr Gell suffered a broken nose, a black eye, a swollen face and bruising to the back of his head and his legs. Peros was left with a small cut on his forehead.

December 2022: Pictures tendered to court showing injuries sustained by Alexander Gell in an alleged assault by John Peros.

The circumstances around Blackburn’s death are the subject of The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story, which triggered an ­inquiry into multiple failures within Queensland’s state-run forensic laboratory.

Following an inquest in 2020, coroner David O’Connell found Peros was responsible, concluding: “In my mind, this is the only rational conclusion that can be drawn from the whole of the circumstances and the evidence presented.”

Queensland’s double jeopardy laws mean Peros cannot be charged again with Blackburn’s murder unless fresh and compelling evidence emerges.

The appeal setback comes at the same time as Peros lodged a $20m claim against the Queensland government, ­alleging ­mal­icious prosecution and wrong­ful imprisonment.

He spent more than three years in prison up until his acquittal for Blackburn’s murder in 2017. The claim includes $1m compensation for legal costs, plus loss of income during the time he spent in jail, calculated at $100,000 a year.