The nephew of one of the men Ben Hoffmann allegedly murdered during an armed rampage across Darwin in 2019 has abused him in the courtroom.

October 11, 2021

A witness at Ben Hoffmann’s trial for murdering four people during a shooting spree across Darwin has verbally abused him in front of the jury.

The 47-year-old has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder in less than an hour at four locations in the afternoon of June 4, 2019.

Sakelarios Maillis berated Hoffmann after giving evidence concerning his uncle, Michael Sisois, 57, who was the second man shot.

“Die in hell you f***ing c***,” he aggressively said in a raised voice as he walked from the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Monday.

Mr Maillis also slammed his hand on the dock in front of Hoffmann which made a loud thud sound in the courtroom.

He followed it with a similar line to the first as he neared the back of the court.

“Dog, rot in hell, that’s where you belong,” he said before leaving.

Court staff quickly ushered the jury from the court.

Later Justice John Burns told the jury to disregard what Mr Maillis had said.

“I don’t know whether you heard what he said but let me tell you that you must put it out of your minds if you did,” he said.

“As I think I told you at the outset of the case, the allegations in this case are of a type to provoke strong emotions and you must guard against that.”

Earlier, Mr Maillis told the court he was called to pick up Mr Sisois’s ute from The Buff Club in the days after his uncle was fatally shot in the head in the bar and restaurant’s car park.

He said he was disappointed when he opened the glove box and found a glass pipe in a sunglass case.

The court has previously heard the pipe was an ice pipe used for smoking crystal methamphetamine and Mr Sisois was with Hoffmann when he smoked ice the night before the killings.

After the pair went their separate ways, Hoffmann repeatedly alleged that Mr Sisois had spiked his drink or poisoned him.

Hoffmann also allegedly sent Mr Sisois a text demanding that he bring a woman to him before he was shot.

“I will f***ing wreck you, Sisois. Bring her to me. I’ll f*** you up,” the message read.

The Crown says Hoffmann murdered his first victim, Hassan Baydoun, 33, at the Palms Motel about 5.30pm on June 4.

He then allegedly shot Nigel Hellings, 75, at a nearby apartment block on Garden Hills Crescent and Mr Sisois at The Buff Club.

Rob Courtney, 52, was stabbed more than 30 times and shot dead at an industrial yard at Darwin Recycling.

Prosecutor Lloyd Babb SC has said Hoffmann was searching for his ex-girlfriend, Kelly Collins, and a man she said she was in love with, Alex Deligiannis, when the killings occurred.

The trial continues.