Roger Rogerson

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Roger Caleb Rogerson (born January 3, 1941) is a controversial former Detective-Sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force. He was one of the most decorated officers, having received awards for bravery, outstanding policemanship and devotion to duty, including the Peter Mitchell Trophy which is the highest annual police award. ^[1] Rogerson was associated with a number of organised crime figures, including Neddy Smith, Graham "Abo" Henry, Warren Lanfranchi and Christopher Dale Flannery. Neddy Smith was a convicted heroin dealer, rapist and armed robber who has claimed Rogerson gave him the "green light" to commit crimes in New South Wales. Henry and Lanfranchi were also heroin dealers and armed robbers, while Flannery specialised in contract killing.

Rogerson was responsible for the shooting death of Lanfranchi. During the inquest the coroner found he was acting in the line of duty, but a jury declined to find he had acted in self-defence. Rogerson was later commended by the police force for his bravery. However, it was alleged by Lanfranchi's partner, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, and later by Smith, that Rogerson had murdered Lanfranchi as retribution for robbing another heroin dealer who was under police protection and for firing a gun at a police officer. Huckstepp, a heroin addict and prostitute, appeared on numerous current affairs programs, including 60 Minutes and A Current Affair, demanding an investigation into the killing. She also made statements to the New South Wales Police Internal Affairs Branch. She was later murdered, her body found in a pond in Centennial Park, New South Wales.

Fellow police officer Mick Drury has alleged that Rogerson was involved in his attempted murder. Drury claims he refused to accept a bribe Rogerson offered to change his evidence in a heroin trafficking trial of convicted Melbourne drug dealer, Alan Williams. On June 6, 1984, Drury was shot twice through his kitchen window as he fed his three-year-old daughter, Belinda. Rogerson was charged with the shooting and Williams testified that Rogerson and Flannery had agreed to murder Drury for $AU50,000 each. However, on November 20, 1989, Rogerson was acquitted. ^[2]

Rogerson received his first criminal conviction in 1985 for involvement in drug dealing when he was charged with conspiring with notorious Melbourne drug dealer Dennis Allen to supply heroin. The conviction was overturned on appeal.

Rogerson was dismissed from the Police Force on April 11, 1986. He was subsequently successfully prosecuted for perverting the course of justice in relation to $AU110,000 deposited by him in bank accounts under a false name. He spent nine months in jail in 1990 before being released on bail pending an appeal. His appeal was unsuccessful and he spent a further three years in jail from 1992 to 1995.

After leaving the police force, Rogerson worked in the building and construction industry as a supplier of scaffolding. He also worked as an entertainer, telling stories about his police activities in a show The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, with former Australian footballers Warwick Capper and Mark "Jacko" Jackson.^[3]

On February 17, 2005, Rogerson and his wife were convicted of lying to the 1999 Police Integrity Commission. Rogerson served 12 months of a maximum two-and-a-half year sentence. He was released from Kirkconnell Correctional Centre on February 17, 2006. Rogerson's wife, Anne Melocco, is currently serving a sentence of two years periodic detention for the same offence. ^[4]

Following his release from prison in February 2006, Rogerson resumed his entertaining career with Mark "Jacko" Jackson by appearing in a show called The Wild Colonial Psychos with Jackson and Mark "Chopper" Read. ^[5]

It has been reported that Rogerson has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease however he unequivocally denies this, and claims to have documentary medical proof. ^[6]

Rogerson was depicted by Richard Roxburgh in the Australian mini-series, Blue Murder.