In his own words: Accused police killer Dezi Freeman speaks of hardships, hatred

Dezi Freeman was angry that his driver’s licence and gun permit had been taken away.

He saw it as a threat to his life and his family, who lived together in an off-grid van.

“I need my licence so that I can drive without being assaulted, violated or shot by police. I need to drive for a litany of reasons. Practically, everything I do revolves around the ability to exercise my right to travel, the ability to carry goods and people, especially my family members,” he wrote in an affidavit for a court.

“Given my particular situation, location, history and culture, it’s almost like asking why I need to breathe, eat or walk.”

On Tuesday, Freeman, born Desmond Filby, is alleged to have ambushed and shot dead Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart, who approached his door to serve a warrant. A third officer was wounded in the ambush and taken by helicopter to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.

Freeman took off for the bush and has not been seen since, sparking a massive manhunt.

In the articulate documents, which referenced legislation to support his argument, Freeman did not hide his contempt for police.

It was the middle of 2024 and the 56-year-old father was four years into fighting a two-year licence suspension after being intercepted for speeding 16 kilometres over the limit, using a mobile phone while behind the wheel and refusing a roadside drug test.

By this stage, his fight had reached the Supreme Court of Victoria, where he detailed how not being able to drive would derail his children’s homeschooling, including trips to the snow, and swimming lessons for his baby boy.

“My wife came here from the Philippines 20 years ago hoping to escape the blunt hardships and injustices of that country but here we are in an oppressive and constantly worsening situation. Taking my licence has just pushed us to breaking point given the hell we have already been through,” he wrote.

“I was a qualified photographer years ago which is how I paid for my wife to come to Australia from the Philippines. Years of homelessness and being constantly attacked by police and 30-plus court cases ruined that.

“Given the dire situation that we are in, it only takes a straw to break the camel’s back. The loss of licence is more like a tree trunk than a straw.

“Whatever happens to me affects my family. The stress, hardships, injustice, misery and poverty exacerbated by not being able to drive affects us all. An injunction would alleviate much of this from my wife and children.”

In his letters to the court, Freeman also detailed the struggles of travelling to Wangaratta, some 90 kilometres away from Bright, to obtain medical and dental treatment and products that city people readily have access to.

Driving, he said, was also imperative to allowing his family to access things like firewood for their wood heater and for transporting jerrycans of petrol – which he said he now had to do in a car with a baby, which was neither safe nor comfortable.

“That’s what happened yesterday because my wife had to drive,” he wrote.

Court documents show he was convicted and fined $1200 and had his driver’s licence cancelled for two years for refusing a drug-driving test, using a mobile phone while driving, and speeding on September 28, 2020.

During the traffic stop Freeman became agitated, calling the officers who tried to drug-test him “corrupt scum” and “corrupt filth”. “Leave me alone, you terrorist. Get the hell away from me and go,” he is recorded saying on body-worn camera footage.

His punishment was handed down in Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on June 30, 2022, but he appealed to the County Court in his local area.

County Court judge Peter Lauritsen eventually withdrew the speeding charge but upheld the two-year licence disqualification for the other two charges, the minimum mandatory term, enacting it from April 8, 2024.

A court heard Freeman’s gun licence was later cancelled as a result of the interaction and charges.
Freeman then took the fight higher again, to the Supreme Court. In late 2024, his fight to retain his ability to drive was thrown out.

During his Supreme Court interactions, he thanked a judicial registrar for his patience and professionalism during the hearing and apologised for his own exasperation and trauma which surfaced on the day.

He said the fundamental aspect of his application was his right to be treated as innocent unless proven guilty “which is the cornerstone of justice in any civilised society”.

Freeman, though, had already been found guilty two years earlier.

“I don’t believe that there should be any need for any further questions or submissions beyond this point. However, as requested I will continue and be thorough, especially since my life depends on it.”

Freeman remains on the run.

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