Category Archives: Victoria

Eurydice Dixon’s father says he hopes killer ‘gets better’ after receiving life sentence

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Judge sentences Jaymes Todd to a non-parole period of 35 years for crimes described as crimes as ‘sadistic’ and ‘categorically evil’

Eurydice Dixon’s father said he hoped the man who raped and killed his daughter “gets better,” shortly after the killer was sentenced to to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 35 years.

Jaymes Todd stalked Dixon, 22, for more than an hour before attacking her as she walked through Princes Park following a comedy gig ‪on 12 June‬ last year.

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Crown Resorts: inquiry to examine whether James Packer’s casino group fit to hold licence

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Former judge also asked to report on whether NSW gambling laws need to be overhauled

A public inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing at casinos run by Crown Resorts will decide whether the James Packer-dominated group is fit to hold a licence in New South Wales and whether the state’s gambling laws need to be overhauled.

Terms of reference, released by the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority on Thursday, show the inquiry, to be headed by former judge Patricia Bergin, will also investigate whether Packer’s decision to sell almost 20% of Crown to Hong Kong billionaire Lawrence Ho breached the gambling group’s licence to build a high-roller casino at Barangaroo in Sydney.

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Melbourne archbishop says George Pell innocent and questions if victim mistaken

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Peter Comensoli says he accepts victim was abused but wonders whether he was wrong in naming cardinal as abuser

Catholic archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli says he believes convicted paedophile Cardinal George Pell when he protests his innocence, and has speculated if the sole living victim got the name of his abuser wrong.

A day after Victoria’s court of appeal upheld Pell’s conviction for the rape of a 13-year-old choirboy and sexual assault of another at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996, Comensoli said while he respected the courts, he also believed his friend and would continue to visit him in prison.

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Vatican invokes Cardinal George Pell’s ‘right to appeal’ after child sexual abuse conviction upheld

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Former Vatican treasurer, and most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of child sexual assault, maintains innocence after losing appeal

The most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of child sexual abuse, Cardinal George Pell, has lost his appeal against his conviction, but maintains he is innocent.

In a brief statement issued after the decision the Vatican reiterated that Pell maintained his innocence, and that it was now “Pell’s right to appeal to the high court”.

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Cardinal George Pell loses appeal on child sexual assault conviction – live

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Appeal dismissed by a majority of two to one for the 78-year-old who will remain in prison until October 2022. He was sentenced in March for sexually assaulting two choirboys in 1996

By the way - this is a huge testament to the value of the jury system. I will have so much to say about that. There is NO strong evidence judges alone are less biased or more correct than a jury of 12. #Pell.

Interesting that Morrison said the decision to strip Pell of his honours is independent to the government. Back In February my colleague Paul Karp was told that if Pell lost the appeal the prime minister would write to the Council of the Order of Australia recommending it review and revoke the honour, a decision made on its recommendation by the governor general.

Related: PM to strip George Pell of Order of Australia honour if cardinal loses appeal

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Homeless woman says Centrelink took entire $3,500 tax return for disputed robodebt

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Couch surfing 50-year-old says welfare agency told her she wasn’t in financial hardship

A Melbourne woman battling homelessness says her entire $3,500 tax return was swiped by Centrelink last month, despite the fact she disputes the alleged robodebt.

But when Sue Prgic, 50, complained to the agency that the money had been taken without her knowledge, she said staff had asked to know what she would do with the cash if it were returned.

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Weather warning: cold snap continues across south-eastern Australia

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Strong and gusty winds to bite parts of New South Wales as frosty temperatures sweep Victoria

Wild weather conditions are predicted to lash parts of New South Wales on Sunday afternoon, with conditions in Victoria expected to remain icy as the state is swept by another cold front.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast weather conditions in NSW would ease on Sunday morning before picking up again with strong and gusty winds in many areas of the state for the rest of the day.

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Cardinal George Pell: purported letter from prison sparks investigation

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Victorian justice department says prisoners are not allowed to post on social media or ask others to post on their behalf

Authorities are investigating whether a letter circulating online, apparently written by disgraced Cardinal George Pell to supporters breaks prison rules.

The letter, dated 1 August, was posted on Twitter by an account called “Cardinal George Pell Supporters” on Friday night.

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Wild weather: severe winds, snow, surf and rain lash Victoria, South Australia and NSW

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Delays at Melbourne and Sydney airports, Frankston pier ripped from its moorings and snow at the AFL as polar blast strikes

Icy winds up to 120km/h, snow, wild surf and rain continued to lash South Australia, Victoria and parts of New South Waleson Friday, and snow fell at the AFL in Canberra.

The “strongest weather system this winter” to hit south-east Australia has continued its path of carnage across the country, grounding flights in Sydney and Melbourne, and leading to hundreds of calls to the State Emergency Service across all three states.

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Roberta Williams allegedly threatened to kill TV producer making show about her life

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Melbourne gangland widow freed on bail after being charged with kidnapping and death threat

Gangland widow Roberta Williams has been given bail by a Melbourne court after allegedly kidnapping and threatening to kill a television producer making a show about her life.

The 50-year-old widow of convicted killer Carl Williams, who was killed in prison in 2010, is one of four people charged with assaulting and threatening to kill producer Ryan Naumenko at Collingwood on 9 July.

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Victorian government orders investigation into Crown casino crime allegations

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Claims including links to Triads to be ‘re-examined’ and rules covering junket operators reviewed

Victoria’s minister for gambling, Marlene Kairouz, says she has ordered the state’s casino regulator to conduct a snap investigation into a flood of allegations made against Crown Resorts and its Melbourne operation that include claims of links to organised crime and that its high rollers got waved through immigration without proper checks.

Kairouz said her department would also review the regulation of junket operators who bring high rollers from China, some of whom have been linked by Nine to Triad gangs.

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Jeff Kennett accuses Victorian Labor MP who kicked in hotel door of playing mental health card

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Former premier says he objected to Will Fowles ‘using the coverall of a mental health illness’ when explaining his confrontation

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has accused a state Labor backbencher who kicked in a door at a Canberra hotel of wrongly playing the mental health card.

Will Fowles smashed a door at the Abode hotel during a confrontation with staff over his luggage on Thursday morning. Police have questioned the MP for the Melbourne seat of Burwood but he has not been charged over the incident.

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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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