Peter Walker
Thursday March 15, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Peter Bennett began what the Age newspaper described as his "self-appointed military career" in September 2005.
The 54-year-old wore formal military dress - including decorations for supposed service in Vietnam and elsewhere - to gatecrash a formal dinner at an air force base in Melbourne.
There, he met senior figures including the head of Australia's air force, Air Vice Marshal Geoffrey Shepherd.
The Age pictured Bennett, who has pleaded guilty to impersonating a public official, dressed in a white jacket, bow tie and red cummerbund as he posed for a photograph with Mr Shepherd.
After managing to obtain an Australian defence forces identity card, he attended a series of meetings of Operation Acolyte, which planned security for last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Werribee magistrates court, in Melbourne, heard yesterday that Bennett's "career" ended last March, when he was asked to provide proof of his service record after none could be found in military archives.
He promised to return with the paperwork but was not seen again. Police later raided his home and seized military items including uniforms, badges, medals and ribbon bars, the Age reported.
Bennett told the court he had done similar things before, saying his "foolish stupidity" stemmed from being turned down for military service on medical grounds in 1971. The case was adjourned until May for a pre-sentence report.
"If the army had have accepted me all those years ago I probably wouldn't have ended in the trouble I have," Bennett, who was released from prison in 1986 following a sentence for armed robbery, told the Age outside the court.
"Anzac Day won't be so good this year," he said, referring to the Australian and New Zealand public holiday in honour of the military held every April 25, the anniversary of the start of the ill-fated Gallipoli landings in 1915.
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