Yuendumu: Sergeant accused of lying in Zachary Rolfe trial

The officer in charge of Yuen­dumu police station on the night Kumanjayi Walker was killed has denied lying under oath about the information and ­instructions she gave Zachary Rolfe and his tactical ­response unit.

Zachary Rolfe outside the court in Darwin on Friday. Picture: Julianne Osborne

The officer in charge of Yuen­dumu police station on the night Kumanjayi Walker was killed has denied lying under oath about records of the information and ­instructions she gave Zachary Rolfe and his elite tactical ­response unit.

Constable Rolfe and the Northern Territory Police ­Immediate Response Team were in Yuendumu to support local ­officers and help arrest Walker, who was wanted for breaching a court order and for attacking two policemen with an axe three days earlier.

Constable Rolfe shot Walker three times after the latter stabbed him with scissors. He is now facing charges of murder, manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.

Prosecutors have been eager to persuade the jury that Constable Rolfe failed to follow his training and put himself and his partner at risk.

The NT ­Supreme Court heard earlier this week that Sergeant Julie Frost and her superiors had formulated a plan to arrest ­Walker safely on the morning of Sunday, November 10, 2019. The jury has been played bodyworn video footage of Constable Rolfe trying to “grab up” Walker on Saturday night instead.

Sergeant Frost acknowledged under cross-examination that she made notes about the incident but failed to produce them during Constable Rolfe’s committal hearing. “You were asked, not only by me but indeed by his Honour in the committal, whether there are any other notes in existence. And you said, ‘No?’” defence barrister David Edwardson QC asked.

“I didn’t consider them to be the notes that you were chasing,” Sergeant Frost replied.

“The truth of the matter is, I suggest, you never thought the defence would see this — these notes?” he continued.

“What I’m suggesting to you, sergeant, is that you knew ­perfectly well that these notes were disclosable, and you deliberately chose to conceal them?” Sergeant Frost replied that was “incorrect”.

Sergeant Frost has testified that she gave the four IRT members copies of her arrest plan, but she did not write that in her notes made before any official police statements.

She acknowledged in court on Friday that CCTV videos did not support her evidence. She also said some parts of her memory “improved with time” while ­others did not.

Mr Edwardson proposed to Sergeant Frost that her arrest plan was “futile” because no one knew for sure where Walker would be sleeping. Constable Rolfe encountered Walker by chance while gathering intelligence regarding the teenager’s whereabouts.

“So that’s why it’s impossible to direct the IRT that they must arrest at 5.30am because you need to know where he is?” Mr Edwardson asked.

Sergeant Frost said the most likely places he would be sleeping were well known.

Mr Edwardson suggested the real reason Sergeant Frost had wanted to hold off arresting Walker until Sunday was so she could get a good night’s sleep.

“No, that was because it’s the safest time to make an arrest,” she replied.

The court heard local officer Felix Alefaio knew Walker well and knew the places the IRT would be most likely to find him. But Officer Alefaio did not go with Constable Rolfe and his colleagues on the Saturday night.

The trial continues.