Commissioner of Police v Cole (No. 2) [2018] NSWSC 561

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Commissioner of Police v Cole (No. 2) [2018] NSWSC 561 Hearing dates: 26 April 2018 Date of orders: 02 May 2018 Decision date: 02 May 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Davies J Decision: 1. Pursuant to s 7 of the Courts Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 ("the Act") prohibit the publication or disclosure of the closed court sections of the transcript of the hearing on 11 April 2018, specified as follows:

(a) Commencing: Page 24, Line 35 Concluding: Page 26, Line 42 (b) Commencing: Page 27, Line 12 Concluding: Page 27, Line 27 (c) Commencing: Page 30, Line 35 Concluding: Page 33, Line 17 (d) Commencing: Page 41, Line 5 Concluding: Page 46, Line 15

2. The above order is subject to the following exceptions:

(a) Confidential communications between the legal representatives for the Commissioner of Police and Counsel for the defendants in which it is reasonably necessary to disclose that information for the conduct of or defence of the proceedings; and (b) Communications between the legal representatives for the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner of Police, any Police officers associated with Strike Force Raptor and members of the Office of General Counsel of NSW Police for official purposes.

3. The Order is to operate throughout the Commonwealth of Australia pursuant to s. 11 of the Act.

4. The Order is to continue to operate until further order of the Court pursuant to s. 12 of the Act. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE – hearings – suppression and non-publication – orders – proceedings concerning a 'serious crime prevention order' in respect of members of an Outlaw Motor Cycle Gang – whether necessary to suppress parts of transcript of hearing in closed court tending to identify the source of evidence in confidential affidavit of police officer – Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) s 8 – whether public interest in preserving secrecy outweighs public interest in publication – general concern that publication would endanger source – orders made with respect to confidential evidence without disclosing the evidence itself Legislation Cited: Courts Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) ss 7, 8, 11, 12 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) s 130 Cases Cited: Attorney General v Kaddour & Turkmani [2001] NSWCCA 456 Attorney General (NSW) v Lipton [2012] NSWCCA 156; (2012) 224 A Crim R 177 DPP v Smith (1996) 86 A Crim R 308 National Crime Authority v Gould (1989) 90 ALR 489 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Commissioner of Police (Plaintiff) Mitchell Alexander Cole (First Defendant) Benjamin James Main (Second Defendant) Andrew Robert Manners (Third Defendant) Matthew Francis Maybury (Fourth Defendant) Troy Vanderlight (Fifth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: B Thomson (Plaintiff) P Lange (Defendants)