Arabic version: الشرطة تقول إن إنذار الكفالة بحق غوسلينغ قد يكون حالة خطأ في الهوية

According to ABC News, Northern Territory Police have acknowledged that a formal caution issued to federal Labor MP Luke Gosling over an alleged September bail breach may have involved mistaken identity. Police said the person in photographs from a Darwin cafe may have been a “doppelganger”.

Gosling, the member for Solomon, faces two charges of assaulting Northern Territory Administrator David Connolly at a Thai festival in Darwin in July. He denies wrongdoing. His bail conditions require him to stay at least 15 metres from Mr Connolly while the matter proceeds through court.

Court documents said Mr Connolly and his wife, Sue Brosnan, reported seeing Gosling at the Boatshed cafe in Cullen Bay on September 1. Detective Sergeant Sarah Hutchinson said photos were taken between 8:19am and 8:28am and appeared to show a man who looked like Gosling. The alleged conduct included entering and leaving the cafe within 15 metres of the administrator.

Gosling’s defence barrister, Marty Aust SC, told police his client was not at the cafe and was engaged in school drop-off at 8:20am. Sergeant Hutchinson said she was open to being corrected and that the caution could be withdrawn if information established Gosling was not there. Defence solicitor Megan Donahoe sought CCTV footage from Gosling’s children’s school and a Darwin hotel, saying it could help test the reliability of identification evidence from the same witnesses.

Gosling was previously accused of a separate bail breach in August, but prosecutors withdrew that charge last week. Prosecutor Joanne Poole raised concerns about pre-trial publicity and prejudice, though the ABC was later granted access to view the photographs. Gosling’s case is scheduled to return to court this month for a hearing on the assault charges.