Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Murder-accused cop’s trial postponed again
A trial of a Northern Territory police officer accused of murdering an Indigenous man has been delayed due to a COVID-19 lockdown in Darwin.
August 17, 2021
A Northern Territory policeman’s long-awaited trial for allegedly murdering an Indigenous man during an outback arrest has again been delayed by COVID-19.
Constable Zachary Rolfe, 29, is accused of murdering Kumanjayi Walker, 19, who was shot three times in the remote community of Yuendumu in November 2019.
Rolfe was supposed to stand trial in the NT Supreme Court on Wednesday but it was postponed after Greater Darwin was locked down amid fears of a Delta variant outbreak.
“Due to the developing COVID-19 situation in the NT the trial of Zachary Rolfe is now scheduled to commence on Monday, August 23,” an NT Courts spokesman said.
About 150,000 people in the Top End were plunged into a three-day lockdown at midday on Monday after an infected US man travelled from Sydney to Darwin.
Hundreds of close and casual contacts have since been identified after the man in his 30s flew via Canberra on Thursday to the NT for work.
Rolfe’s trial was previously postponed in July when the Crown’s interstate prosecution team found themselves unable to travel to the NT from virus-ravaged Sydney.
It was later rescheduled to Wednesday when prosecutor Philip Strickland SC agreed to fly to Darwin to undertake two weeks’ quarantine at Howard Springs.
The trial is expected to run for three weeks in Darwin, which is about 1500km north of Yuendumu.