Zachary Rolfe ‘deliberately assaulted’ Aboriginal man, then lied

The jury in Zachary Rolfe’s murder trial was not told that in the lead up to Kumanjayi Walker’s death, the young cop was involved in four other incidents | WATCH VIDEO (graphic content)

Zachary Rolfe “deliberately assaulted” a young male Aboriginal suspect, then “fabricated an injury to cover up” the excessive use of force and “lied in evidence” about what he had done, a court has been told.

It can now be revealed that in the months leading up to Kumanjayi Walker’s death, Constable Rolfe was involved in several altercations in which he allegedly used unnecessary force against Aboriginal arrest targets, resulting in injuries.

In three of four of the cases – all within two years of Walker’s death – he allegedly provided “false justification” for actions that were inconsistent with police training.

The jury in Constable Rolfe’s trial was not told about these incidents because prosecutors failed to have the evidence admitted. The 12 men and women who acquitted him of murder were also not shown text messages in which he described Alice Springs as a “shithole” and “like the Wild West” with “f..k all rules”. Another message characterised working with the police Immediate Response Team as a “sweet gig, just get to do cowboy stuff with no rules”. The evidence can be revealed after the NT Supreme Court lifted suppression orders.

Constable Rolfe acknowledged in an exclusive interview with The Australian he had been the subject of “a number of complaints” about his use of force. “Every one of those has been investigated, and I’ve been cleared,” he said.

“That force was never excessive – it was relative to the situation on the day.”

In one of the incidents, Constable Rolfe allegedly punched an Aboriginal suspect, Malcolm Ryder. Mr Ryder told police he was in handcuffs and had his head “slung” against the floor. Body-worn video showed him lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

According to a sworn statement from Constable Rolfe’s former girlfriend (also a police officer), he asked a detective at the station to scratch his face so he could blame that injury on Mr Ryder and give himself a justification for the use of force.

A magistrate who examined the case was highly critical of Constable Rolfe’s conduct. The NT Supreme Court heard the magistrate found Constable Rolfe “deliberately assaulted” Mr Ryder then “lied in evidence” about what he had done.

Constable Rolfe allegedly “slammed” the head of another arrest target against a rock after, the man claimed, he had given up. A third man chased by Constable Rolfe alleged the officer “karate-chopped” him to the ground after he voluntarily stopped.

Video footage of those incidents was played to the court in the absence of the jury, as was footage of a fourth incident in which a group of police, including Constable Rolfe, rushed at a man in a park, knocking him into a wall. The man suffered head injuries.

Crown prosecutor Philip Strickland SC said the similarity between the four incidents and Walker’s death was that Constable Rolfe was acting as a uniformed police officer attempting to arrest someone. “In all circumstances, the act of the accused caused injury or significant injury to the complainant, and in all circumstances, according to the expert who will be called by the crown, the force that he used was unnecessary,” he said.

In three of the four incidents, Constable Rolfe had provided a “false justification” for his actions.

Use-of-force expert Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Barram examined 46 incidents between 2016 and 2019 in which Constable Rolfe used force. He identified five in which he “engaged in conduct that unnecessarily led to situations where force was then required, that would not have been necessary had Rolfe adhered to police use of force philosophy and training”. Mr Strickland said one further incident was the subject of a different report.

“It is my view that on these occasions, Rolfe has demonstrated a tendency to rush into situations with a disregard for his and others’ safety and … for NT Police training, practice and procedure,” Sen Sgt Barram’s first report said.

Constable Rolfe’s barrister, David Edwardson QC, argued successfully that the evidence was neither probative nor relevant. On Friday, he tried to persuade Justice John Burns it should remain secret, as the allegations were unsubstantiated and “no finding has been made against Mr Rolfe”. Justice Burns ruled “ensuring that the public has the means of scrutinising the decisions which have been made” was more important.

The video, text messages and other material were released after The Weekend Australian and other media briefed a barrister to appear in court and ask the judge to lift suppression orders.