A woman who was robbed at gunpoint by a Melbourne man acquitted of murdering two police officers has told Victoria's Supreme Court she lives in a constant state of panic two decades later.
Jason Roberts, 41, walked free from prison two months ago after he was found not guilty in a Supreme Court retrial of killing Victorian police officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller.
While Roberts has always maintained he was not involved in the shooting of the police officers, he did plead guilty to 10 charges related to armed robberies which happened in the lead-up to those 1998 murders.
Roberts returned to court today to hear from the victims of those robberies.
In a written statement, Olivia Coffman, who was working at a sports shop Roberts held up, told the court she struggled to deal with simple tasks and continued to have trust issues.
"I feel I have been imprisoned myself these past two decades," prosecutor Ben Ihle QC read from her statement.
"I have shut myself off from the world but I can never escape Roberts in the media.
"It feels like it will never be behind me.
"Every time I think it might be it comes up to haunt me again."
Despite the ongoing impact of those armed robberies on his victims, Roberts's lawyer David Hallowes SC submitted it would be wrong to put his client back behind bars.
"Your honour should impose a sentence that does not require Mr Roberts to go back into custody," he said.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye agreed that was inevitable.
"He's had 22 years in custody, the sentence imposed for the armed robberies could not come anywhere near it," Justice Kaye said.
Outside the Supreme Court, Roberts remained silent when asked whether he had anything to say to his victims.
Roberts served two decades in prison for the murders of Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller before a retrial jury delivered a not-guilty verdict in July.
He was then released on bail ahead of sentencing for the armed robberies.
Today the court heard since then he has lived quietly and is receiving the Newstart Allowance from Centrelink.
"He's been working on refurbishing an old car and to a large degree working to keep to himself or to a large degree socialise with people close to him," Mr Hallowes said.
Roberts always maintained innocence over police murders
The 41-year-old was initially convicted of the police murders along with his girlfriend's father, Bandali Debs, in 2002.
In August 1998, Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller were staking out a restaurant in Moorabbin which they believed could be the next target for a series of armed robberies which had been occurring around Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.
Just after midnight they followed a car onto Cochranes Road where they were gunned down.
A fresh trial was ordered after concerning new evidence emerged about improper police practices, which were ultimately used in the case against him.
During the retrial, Roberts admitted to his part in the robberies, but took to the witness stand to declare he had chosen not to go with Debs on the night the two officers were killed.
He has always said that Debs acted alone because he was planning his birthday party.
The decision is a significant win for Roberts, who has long maintained his innocence and, before the retrial, had exhausted all his legal avenues, including the High Court of Australia.
Justice Kaye will sentence Roberts for his role in the armed robberies on Monday.
