Convicted killer Bandali Debs has told a murder trial Jason Roberts was with him on the morning two police officers were fatally shot after pulling over a car in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs in 1998.
Debs told the Supreme Court on Tuesday he was in a blue Hyundai Excel that was pulled over by Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, after midnight on August 16, 1998.
Sergeant Gary Silk (left) and Senior Constable Rodney Miller.
Asked by prosecutor Ben Ihle, QC, who was in the car, Debs said: “Myself and Jason Roberts.”
Debs said he was armed with a loaded .357 revolver in Moorabbin and that Roberts also had a loaded handgun.
Silk and Miller were shot after they pulled over the Excel, having followed it from the car park of the Silky Emperor Chinese restaurant, where the officers had been on stakeout as police investigated a series of armed robberies on restaurants and small businesses over the preceding months.
Silk’s colleagues later found his body in Cochranes Road, while Miller was found critically wounded in nearby Warrigal Road. He died in hospital.
Jason Roberts (right) outside the Supreme Court.Credit:Jason South
Roberts, who was 17 at the time and is now 41, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder. He argues he was not in Moorabbin when the shootings happened.
He has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of armed robbery and admits he did 10 hold-ups with Debs between March and July of that year.
Justice Stephen Kaye has told the jury Debs and Roberts were convicted of the murders in 2002, but the Court of Appeal granted Roberts a retrial.
Debs, who gave evidence via a video link from the Goulburn Correctional Complex in NSW, said Roberts was the boyfriend of Debs’ eldest daughter, Nicole, in 1998 and that the older man asked the younger if he wanted to take part in armed robberies.
Roberts agreed and the pair robbed 10 venues at gunpoint in Melbourne’s eastern and south-eastern suburbs between March and July of that year.
Debs said he and Roberts did surveillance on potential targets together, and looked for how many cars were outside each business, how many staff and customers were inside and whether there were security cameras.
He said he and Roberts each had loaded handguns on their belts and had masks, thin leather gloves, tape and a knife, a bag for money, and a police scanner with them, even if they were on surveillance.
“Sometimes you can just do a job there and then,” he said.
He said he and Roberts armed themselves on each occasion in the garage at Debs’ Fountain Gate home and got their equipment ready before they drove to a target or to conduct surveillance in one of three vehicles: Nicole’s Excel, Debs’ Holden station wagon or Debs’ Holden four-wheel-drive.
He said they each carried a loaded handgun in a pouch on their belt.
“We were ready for action, ready to go,” Debs said.
Debs said he never conducted surveillance on potential targets by himself, but there were occasions when Roberts would, to “get experience”, and then reported back.
Debs said he wouldn’t do an armed robbery by himself.
“You can’t do robberies on your own because you need a back-up … if something goes wrong, and you need someone to tie the people up. You can’t just go and do things yourself,” he said.
In the 10 hold-ups, Debs said it was Roberts’ job to tape people’s hands together and keep watch, while the older man went to where the money was kept.
“He was the person who was sort of the mule, to carry all the stuff … because he would tape up the people,” Debs said.
Debs said during the hold-ups he and Roberts wore either a stocking over their head or a disguise, such as a “Mr T” mask or a clown mask.
Debs said he kept guns in attache cases behind a brick wall in his garage and previously gave Roberts a .38 after the younger man “begged” to have his own gun.
The trial continues.
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