A former police officer accused of perjury relating to testimony given in NRL player Jack de Belin's rape trial has been placed on bail conditions, with a magistrate labelling the charge against him as "very serious".
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The Director of Public Prosecutions in 2021 dropped sexual assault charges against Mr de Belin and his co-accused Callan Sinclair following two Wollongong District Court trials, which ended in hung juries.
Shawn Adams, 48, was a detective senior constable based in Wollongong at the time when he allegedly gave false evidence under oath against Mr de Belin's February 2020 trial.
He did not appear before Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday when his matter was mentioned for the first time since being charged with perjury last month.
The DPP applied to have Adams subject to bail conditions after stating he was a flight risk, to which the magistrate agreed with.
"I've read the facts, your client has no criminal history but these are very serious charges, to be on the safe side there should be some conditions that mitigate the risk of flight," Magistrate Claire Girotto said.
As part of his bail, Adams is banned from approaching airports and any point of departure from New South Wales, and must also live in Wilton.
The court heard the brief of evidence has already been served, with Adams excused from appearing for his next mention on August 21.
Adams gave evidence in Mr de Belin's prosecution after investigating allegations that the NRL star and fellow footballer Callan Sinclair had raped a 19-year-old Wollongong woman in 2018.
Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and maintained they were innocent of the allegations.
During a second trial in Sydney, a jury acquitted the pair of one count and was unable to reach a verdict on five other charges, before plans for a third trial were abandoned.
'Following extensive inquiries and upon receiving advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, police have charged a former Detective Senior Constable with giving false evidence under oath amounting to perjury,' police said in a statement on May 3.
In 2021 the NSW Police Professional Standards Command launched investigations into the conduct of officers involved in the cases.
De Belin and Sinclair's family have welcomed the charge laid against Adams.
"We are of course disappointed and upset about the three years that were taken from Jack and our family throughout the process," wrote mother Cathy, father David and sister Erica de Belin in a statement to the Nine newspapers last month.
"It was an incredibly upsetting and stressful time for us, but we are a very close family and we got through it together."
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
