A POLICE officer who killed an aboriginal man in the latter’s bedroom cannot use his law enforcement job as a defence, Australia’s top court ruled today.

Seven High Court judges unanimously agreed that Constable Zachary Rolfe cannot use a statute saying police officers are not “civilly or criminally liable” for performing law enforcement “in good faith.”

It means that he can face murder charges for killing Kumanjayi Walker in the central Australian Indigenous township of Yuendumu, on November 9 2019.

The ruling overturns that of the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

The High Court ruled that legal protections for police officers were “subject to constraints, such as doing only that which is reasonable and necessary.”

Mr Rolfe shot the teenager three times during an attempted arrest, while the 19-year-old stabbed the officer with a pair of scissors during a struggle. Mr Rolfe can still mount other defences against the charge, such as self-defence or defence of colleagues.

If found guilty, he will be the first police officer in Australia convicted of unlawfully killing an indigenous person.