Category Archives: Victoria

Faruk Orman released after gangland murder conviction quashed over Lawyer X scandal

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Court of appeal orders former getaway driver be immediately released due to miscarriage of justice caused by his lawyer Nicola Gobbo

Melbourne gangland getaway driver Faruk Orman will be immediately released from jail because of a “substantial miscarriage of justice” caused by his double-agent lawyer Nicola Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X.

Victoria’s court of appeal ordered Orman be released without delay after a hearing in Melbourne on Friday found he should be acquitted due to Gobbo’s actions while she was representing him.

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Former Victorian police officer convicted after misusing database to find woman’s address

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Steven John McGillivray pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and inappropriately accessing woman’s details

A former Victorian police officer has avoided jail after repeatedly misusing the force’s database to look up a woman’s details and then turning up at her house.

Steven John McGillivray, 50, was convicted in Melbourne magistrates court on Friday after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office and inappropriately accessing the woman’s details four times between 2014 and 2017.

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George Pell appeal: prosecutor struggles to answer judges’ questions

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Christopher Boyce accidentally says victim’s name, which is suppressed, during Thursday’s hearing

Prosecutor Christopher Boyce struggled through questions from three judges presiding over the appeal of Cardinal George Pell, finding it difficult to answer their inquiries about the victim’s evidence and the case.

Pell, 77, is appealing his conviction on four charges of an indecent act on a child under the age of 16, and one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16. On Wednesday his legal team, led by Bret Walker SC, argued it was improbable that Pell assaulted two 13-year-old boys after presiding as archbishop of Sunday solemn mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996, and then a few weeks later assaulted one of the boys again.

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Quietly and confidently, George Pell’s barrister tried to unravel the prosecution’s case | David Marr

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The appeal court judges listened intently as Bret Walker SC ransacked the English language to try to prove his point

Rule number two on these occasions is not to trust the look in their eyes. Judges are masters of disguise. Baleful can be applause. Smiles can be the kiss of death.

But the verdict at the end of the first day of George Pell’s appeal has to be that the bench is listening to the case being argued on his behalf by Bret Walker SC with a little more than respect.

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George Pell’s lawyer says timing of offence is ‘critical matter’ in appeal

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Cardinal George Pell has appeared in a Melbourne court to appeal his conviction on charges related to child sexual abuse

Cardinal George Pell’s lawyer Bret Walker SC has told three judges presiding over his client’s appeal that the timing of Pell’s offending was a “critical matter” in deciding whether his conviction should be overturned.

Walker is appealing Pell’s conviction on three grounds, the key one being that the jury came to an unreasonable verdict based on the evidence before them during the trial.

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Melbourne hit by coldest May day since 2000 as snow hits Ballarat

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The CBD reached just 10.6C while Ballarat also had its coldest May day in 19 years

Melbourne has shivered through its coldest May day in nearly 20 years, with snow falling in Ballarat and widespread icy roads making conditions slippery.

The CBD reached just 10.6C on Wednesday, making it Melbourne’s coldest May day since 2000.

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Homeless man charged with murder of Courtney Herron

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Twenty-seven-year-old to face court accused of ‘particularly horrendous attack’

A homeless man has been charged over the death of Courtney Herron, who was brutally murdered in a Melbourne park two days ago.

Victoria police said the man, 27, of no fixed address, had been arrested on Sunday and charged overnight with one count of murder, and would appear in Melbourne magistrates court on Monday.

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Courtney Herron: woman murdered in Melbourne park died from ‘horrendous bashing’

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Victoria police said Herron, who had no fixed address, was killed in Royal Park on Friday night

Courtney Herron, a 25-year-old woman of no fixed address, has been identified as the victim of “a horrendous bashing” on Friday night that occurred before she was found dead in Royal Park in Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria police say.

The latest victim of violence directed at a young woman alone on Melbourne’s streets at night, Herron’s death has horrified Melbourne.

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Australian federal election 2019: Tony Abbott concedes defeat to Zali Steggall in Warringah – politics live

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Western Australia seats crucial as Queensland swings to LNP. Follow all the updates and analysis, live

It’s worth noting that the polls have predicted a very different result to what we are seeing now.

The primary vote gap between Labor and the Coalition is a lot bigger than the polls suggested.

For those who missed when I was talking about Dawson a few weeks ago in the campaign, the mood there was that the stories were part of a southern conspiracy to remove George Christensen.

So they fell in behind him.

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‘Suddenly the police came’: 76-year-old climate protester arrested outside Liberal MP’s office

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Caroline Danaher remains unapologetic after being charged with trespassing in front of Sarah Henderson’s office

A 76-year-old woman arrested and charged for trespassing at Liberal MP Sarah Henderson’s office said she’ll be back again to protest against political inaction on climate change, and that “every one in this country should be doing the same to their local representatives”.

Every Friday for the past four months, Caroline Danaher has sat outside Henderson’s office with two deck chairs. In 40C heat or in the rain, her goal is a meeting with Henderson, whose office is in the marginal Victorian seat of Corangamite.

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‘Tinder rapist’ Glenn Hartland sentenced to at least 11 years in jail

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Hartland, 44, admitted raping three women and indecently assaulting a fourth woman

Glenn Hartland seduced women online, romanced them with grand gestures and, when they ended the relationship, he raped them.

The man known as Melbourne’s “Tinder rapist” was on Friday sentenced to 14 years and nine months in jail for attacks on four women he met on the popular dating app.

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Melbourne doctor who called for women to be raped stood down during investigation

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Health district responsible for hospital that employs Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee says it takes ‘professional misconduct’ seriously

The health district responsible for the hospital which employs an emergency doctor who said “some women deserve to be raped” has ordered the doctor be stood down while they investigate.

Earlier in April Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee was suspended by the Tasmanian health practitioners tribunal for six weeks after he admitted to posting a series of sexist and racist remarks online. While Lee previously worked in Tasmania, in 2018 he began work at Box Hill hospital in Victoria as an emergency doctor, and the suspension bars him from working anywhere in Australia.

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Melbourne Chinatown death: mourners hold vigil for Natalina Angok

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Group gathers on steps of Victorian parliament to ‘bear witness’ to Angkok’s life

Mourners held a silent vigil on Friday night for Natalina Angok, the young African-Australian woman found dead in Melbourne’s Chinatown on Wednesday.

A small group gathered on the steps of the Victorian parliament on Spring Street for about an hour on Friday evening, vowing to “gather to bear witness to Natalina Angok’s life”.

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Independent’s day? The ‘orange army’ and its battle for Indi

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Can Cathy McGowan’s anointed successor keep Indi independent or will the Coalition strike back?

With the retirement of Cathy McGowan, the rural Victorian seat of Indi is once more back in play and the group of campaigners who unseated Sophie Mirabella in 2013 are now fighting to keep the seat in independent hands.

Orange spray-painted chairs adorn the verandahs outside homes across the electorate – a symbol of the battle.

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Father and son die after lifesaving boat flips in surf off Victoria’s Great Ocean Road

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Rescue boat crew were trying to help a tourist wading in dangerous waters at the mouth of the Sherbrook River

A Victorian town is in mourning after losing two of its well-regarded surf lifesaving volunteers, a father and son who died trying to rescue a tourist from treacherous swells.

Dairy farmers Ross Powell, 71, and his son Andy Powell, 32, have been remembered as heroes after their rescue boat flipped in two-metre swell on Sunday morning.

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Liberal candidate’s claim of ‘fake’ report prompts release of audio interview

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Guardian stands by report after the candidate for Chisholm, Gladys Liu, said the report was ‘fake’ and ‘wrong’ and she had been ‘misrepresented’

The audio of an 2016 interview with Gladys Liu, now the Liberal candidate for the Melbourne seat of Chisholm, has been released after she questioned the accuracy of comments she made to the writer of a Guardian article.

Liu ran an anti-Labor campaign on WeChat, the most popular Chinese-language social media network, ahead of the 2016 election and in the July 2016 report claimed credit for helping to get then Liberal MP Julia Banks elected to parliament.

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Mental health service should be expanded to an opt-out model, expert says

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Many people receiving compulsory mental health treatment are not even aware the advocacy service exists

An advocacy service for people who have been involuntarily detained in mental health wards should be expanded to an opt-out model so patients do not slip through the cracks, an independent evaluation has found.

The Independent Mental Health Advocacy service (IMHA) was established in 2015 to support people receiving compulsory mental health treatment in Victoria and ensure they are aware of their right to object to treatment.

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Court dismisses $1.8m bullying case brought by man accusing boss of breaking wind

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Victorian court upholds supreme court ruling that even if David Hingst’s allegations were true, flatulence did not necessarily constitute bullying

An Australian appeals court on Friday dismissed a bullying case brought by an engineer who accused his former supervisor of repeatedly breaking wind toward him.

The Victoria state court of appeal upheld a supreme court judge’s ruling that even if engineer David Hingst’s allegations were true, flatulence did not necessarily constitute bullying.

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Lawyer X informed for police for 19 months after she was official source, inquiry told

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Police continued to receive information from Nicola Gobbo until 27 August 2010, royal commission told

Police were still using Nicola Gobbo, the woman known as “Lawyer X”, as an informant for 19 months after she was deregistered as a confidential source, a royal commission has heard.

Gobbo, 46, was a registered police source in 1995, in 1999, and from September 2005 to January 2009, informing on a number of her own high-profile gangland clients, including Tony Mokbel.

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