The former NT police commissioner John McRoberts ordered his detectives not to raid a travel agency because it was owned by a woman he was having an affair with, a court has heard.
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Monday was the first day of the jury trial for McRoberts, who sat in the dock and pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
McRoberts, the Territory's police chief from 2010 to 2015, was having an affair with Alexandra "Xana" Kamitsis at the time, a travel agent and Crime Stoppers NT boss.
Prosecutor Michael McHugh SC told the court McRoberts was undermining his own police force's investigation out of self-interest because he knew the seizure of Ms Kamitsis' phone would have revealed intimate messages between the pair.
One of those messages was read out in court, in which Ms Kamitsis says "good night sweet dreams ... I will always love you".
Ms Kamitsis was one of a number of travel agents being investigated, and was later charged for defrauding a government pensioner travel concession scheme.
That included dishonestly invoicing the NT government for flight discounts for pensioners and pocketing the cash.
Current police commissioner and then deputy Reece Kershaw declared the defrauding of the travel scheme a "major crime" and the Director of Public Prosecutions encouraged police to lay charges.
However McRoberts met with then Chief Minister Adam Giles and other senior figures, telling them there was not enough evidence to charge and non-criminal civil financial penalties should be pursued to avoid damaging the NT's reputation, the court heard.
Mr Roberts should never have been involved in an investigation involving Ms Kamitsis, which breached various police rules around associations, and also improperly spoke out against investigator Jason Blake's abilities, the court heard.
"The accused did a number of different things, that is engaged in conduct intended to frustrate and deflect a criminal investigation," Mr McHugh said.
"In so doing (he) was perverting the course of justice."
Defence lawyer Tony Elliott denied McRoberts was even involved in the investigation and said just because a witness made allegations or had recollections from several years ago didn't make it true or prove it.
The six-week trial will be a who's who of Territory politics and power, with former chief minister Adam Giles, current police commissioner Reece Kershaw and former health department CEO Prof Len Notaras to give evidence.
Australian Associated Press
