Fury at lying ex-cop’s suppression order in Jack de Belin perjury case

A former police officer’s successful bid to have his name suppressed as he admitted lying under oath during the Jack de Belin sexual assault case has been lashed by the family of the NRL star’s co-accused.

Parents of co-accused Callan Sinclair say the decision means they will never get the answers they need about the police handling of the investigation, beyond the one officer, claiming there had been “no transparency”.

Mr Sinclair’s mum Gai told the Sunday Telegraph it was disappointing to see after her son and his friend were “assumed guilty from the start”.

“They were forced to endure the unrelenting vilification and biased media attention. They showed courage and dignity over the 60-plus days they sat in that courtroom,” she said.

The ex-cop will face sentencing proceedings later this year after his lawyer on Wednesday appeared in the Wollongong Local Court and entered on his behalf a guilty plea to one count of giving false evidence under oath amounting to perjury.

The man can only be known as “Officer A” due to an order made by the court on Wednesday protecting his identity.

Officer A admitted to lying under oath when he appeared before the Wollongong District Court in February 2020 when he gave evidence about material he had viewed on Mr de Belin’s phone which was obtained during a search warrant.

In 2021, the DPP dropped sexual assault charges against Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair after juries in two District Court trials failed to reach a verdict.

Both men had pleaded not guilty to all charges and consistently maintained they were innocent.

They were found not guilty of one count of sexual assault following their second trial.

In 2021, an internal police probe began examining the police officer’s conduct during the court proceedings and he was charged with giving false evidence under oath amounting to perjury.

According to court documents, the man was charged relating to his evidence in the District Court during a pre-trial hearing when Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair’s lawyers were applying for a stay of proceedings.

If successful, it would have prevented the matter ever going to trial, however the application was ultimately dismissed by Judge Andrew Haesler.

According to a statement of agreed facts tendered to the court, in December 2019, police raided the home of the St George Illawarra forward, seizing a yellow Nokia phone.

Officer A then viewed SMS messages between Mr de Belin and a contact listed as “Craig Lawyer”.

“Craig Lawyer” was Craig Osborne, a Dragons director who was also Mr de Belin’s lawyer.

In the messages, Mr Osborne gave Mr de Belin an update on his legal team’s preparations for the then upcoming trial, including the issuing of subpoenas, the taking of witness statements and experts who might be called to give evidence.

Police used the Cellebrite program to take screenshots of information on Mr de Belin’s phone, including 203 messages with “Craig Lawyer”, much of which was protected by legal professional privilege.

After discovering that police had accessed the material, lawyers for Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair applied for a permanent stay of proceedings, arguing it robbed them of their right to a fair trial.

The application was ultimately dismissed by Judge Haesler, but during a hearing, Officer A told the court under oath that he believed Mr de Belin’s communications with “Craig Lawyer” were “Dragons business”.

This is despite admitting knowing that Mr Osborne was employed by RMB Lawyers, who were representing Mr de Belin.

Officer A was medically retired from the force in August 2023.

He will now appear in the Wollongong District Court on March 25 to set a date for sentence proceedings.