Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au

Aaron Bunch
Confused cop lets Darwin shooter slip by

A Northern Territory policeman failed to follow Ben Hoffmann after he allegedly murdered his third victim because the officer was confused, a court has heard.

September 28, 2021

A confused Northern Territory policeman did not follow an accused murderer’s car after he allegedly shot a man in the head despite a witness alerting him to the incident, a court has been told.

Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann has pleaded not guilty in the NT Supreme Court to murdering four men at four locations in less than an hour on the afternoon of June 4, 2019.

His drug-fuelled rampage allegedly took him across Darwin as he searched for a man named Alex Deligiannis and a woman he believed was his girlfriend, Kelly Collins.

Hoffmann murdered his third victim, Michael Sisois, 57, in the car park at the Buff Club after the accused killer threatened his victim via text, prosecutor Lloyd Babb SC has said.

“I will f***ing wreck you, Sisois. Bring her to me. I’ll f*** you up, you f*** heads,” he allegedly wrote in an SMS.

Senior Constable Merwan Kazem was one of the first NT police officers to enter the Buff Club after Hoffmann fled the scene to allegedly murder his fourth victim.

“We decided to go in with guns drawn and walk through,” he said from the witness box on Monday.

“As we got closer I noticed it looked like coloured blankets all bunched up but as we got closer I noticed the deceased was there.”

Sen Const Kazem had been alerted to the alleged murder by a woman who fled the scene after she came face to face with an armed man.

But he didn’t immediately enter the club despite the woman saying the alleged killer was still present and about to take his victim’s life.

Instead, he parked across the street and watched as patrons waved and tried to get his attention.

“I just didn’t want to enter the Buff Club at that time not knowing what exactly happened,” he said.

Sen Const Kazem also didn’t give chase when he spotted Hoffmann’s white ute leave the club even though police communications said they were looking for the car.

“Look, I was in a confused state at that moment. I didn’t want to leave the area. I just didn’t know what happened in the Buff Club,” he said.

Sen Const Kazem said he tried to read the ute’s registration plate “but it just went in seconds”.

Hassan Baydoun, 33, Nigel Hellings, 75, and Rob Courtney, 52, were the other men who died.

Hoffmann has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder and 10 other serious charges, including threatening to kill and recklessly endangering life.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

Comments are closed.

Latest Stories
archive
date published
March 2024
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031