Category Archives: Crime – Australia

Tara shooting incident brings back Wieambilla memories for traumatised residents

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Four teenagers in custody after reports of shots fired in centre of Queensland town

Residents of Tara, in Queensland’s western downs, say a shooting incident on Wednesday afternoon has stoked trauma after last month’s murder of two police officers and a neighbour in nearby Wieambilla.

Four teenagers have been taken into custody after reports of shots being fired in the area at 3.30pm. Police declared an exclusion zone covering several blocks in the centre of town at 5.30pm.

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Police seize neo-Nazi paraphernalia in series of raids across south-east Queensland

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Exclusive: Three men charged with damage offences, with the state government yet to outlaw the display of hate symbols

Queensland counter-terrorism police have charged three men in relation to the displaying of neo-Nazi material, after conducting raids on three separate addresses across south-east Queensland.

Police told Guardian Australia that officers had discovered a number of offensive banners, stickers and flyers after executing search warrants on residential addresses in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong, and Gold Coast suburbs of Pimpama and Oxenford.

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Man sentenced to six years’ jail over hours-long torture of woman in Brisbane hotel room

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Trent Wayne Lawson, 38, pleaded guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture for 2021 attack and can apply for parole

A Queensland man has been sentenced for the “reprehensible” assault and torture of a woman for at least two hours while he held her captive in a hotel room.

Trent Wayne Lawson, 38, faced Brisbane district court on Tuesday for sentencing after pleading guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture.

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Experts question decision to not deem Queensland shooting ‘domestic terror’

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Police say there’s ‘nothing really to indicate’ that the Wieambilla shooting could be classified as terrorism

Experts have questioned why Queensland police have resisted classifying the murder of two police officers in Wieambilla as terrorism, amid evidence that the shooters had been inspired by fundamentalist Christianity and conspiracy theories.

Queensland deputy police commissioner Tracy Linford on Thursday said the murder of constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold on a remote property was not deemed an act of domestic terror because there was no evidence of a connection to any “particular group”.

“We are certainly not classing it as a domestic terror event. At this point there’s nothing really to indicate that,” Linford said.

“What we can see is sentiment displayed by the three individuals – the three Train family members – that appears anti-government, anti-police, conspiracy theorist-type things.

“But we can’t see them connected to any particular group that they might have been working with or inspired them to do anything. We haven’t located anything like that at this point in time.”

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Australian gun databases plagued by inconsistencies, Hoddle Street massacre detective says

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Graham Kent, who investigated the 1987 shooting, says national register stalled because of ‘competitions between jurisdictions’

A former police officer who investigated Melbourne’s Hoddle Street massacre has joined the push for a genuine national firearms register amid concerns about an existing database that experts says is hindered by inconsistencies between jurisdictions.

The deadly shooting of two young police officers and a neighbour on a remote Queensland property last week has sparked renewed calls for an overhaul of Australia’s firearms databases and the creation of a centralised register.

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US religious conspiracist linked to Queensland police killers Gareth and Stacey Train

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Australian couple behind Wieambilla attack were in regular contact with man with a similar fundamentalist theology

In the hours after Gareth Train and his wife, Stacey, murdered two police officers and wounded a third during a chilling, premeditated attack on their remote Queensland property this week, they posted a haunting video to YouTube.

“They came to kill us, and we killed them,” Gareth says, his face partly obscured in darkness.

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Wieambilla shooting: Stacey Train had limited contact with family after entering ‘controlling’ relationship with brother-in-law

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Family member remembers quiet girl whose life went ‘downhill’ after marrying

Every year, Stacey Train’s mother would call the mobile of her estranged daughter and leave a message on her birthday.

But, according to another family member, if her son-in-law, Gareth, picked up she would quickly hang up.

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‘Remarkable’ blowout in NSW local court hearing times as victims of crime wait average of nine months

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Time from arrest to case being finalised in 2021/22 grew by 41% thanks to Covid pandemic interruptions

There has been a “remarkable” blowout in the time it takes for cases to be finalised in New South Wales local courts, with data showing the Covid-19 pandemic significantly hampered court operations.

Victims of crime now face an average wait time of nine months before having their case finalised, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) data released on Thursday shows.

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God and guns: the strict religious upbringing of the Wieambilla shooters

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Self-described ‘free evangelical’ Ronald Train, who created his own church based on literal reading of scripture, says sons ‘lost their way’ before Queensland shooting

People who knew Ronald Train during his days living in Toowoomba joked that “no church would accept him, so he had to make his own”.

Train believed – and would later write in a book – that Freemasons “give their allegiance to Lucifer” and were “a cancer”. The constitution of his Christian Independent Fellowship (started after his physical church in Toowoomba closed and he moved interstate) says appointing women to leadership positions “will never be entertained”.

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Police in Australia examine conspiracy theories behind shooting deaths of two officers and four others

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Conspiracy theories and any prior planning will be central to an investigation in Wieambilla, Queensland

In a remote patch of Australian scrub, Gareth Train was building his “ark”.

“The name given to me is Gareth,” he wrote, introducing himself to an online forum for conspiracy theorists and survivalists in January 2021.

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Australia news live: Queensland police pay tribute to two officers killed in ‘absolutely devastating’ shooting ambush

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Two police officers and another member of the public were shot dead at a Wieambilla property, then two men and a woman were killed by police late last night. Follow the day’s news live

Police officers who were shot and killed on a regional Queensland property were searching for a New South Wales man last seen by his family almost a year ago, Guardian Australia understands.

On Monday, four officers attended the remote property at Wieambilla in the Western Downs region in connection with the disappearance of Nathaniel Train, 46, from Dubbo in NSW.

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Queensland police were searching for missing school principal Nathaniel Train when Wieambilla shooting occurred

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Six people were killed on Monday night, including two uniformed police officers allegedly ambushed on a remote property

Police officers who were shot and killed on a regional Queensland property were searching for a New South Wales man last seen by his family almost a year ago, Guardian Australia understands.

Three people were shot dead by tactical police late on Monday night, ending a six-hour standoff that followed the apparent ambush-style killings of two uniformed officers and a member of the public on a remote Queensland property.

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Perth teen charged with murder over death of pregnant woman in shopping centre car park

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The 17-year-old boy allegedly threw a concrete block through the open window of a car killing Diane Miller and her unborn child

A teenager accused of throwing a concrete block at a Perth woman, killing her and her unborn child, has had his charge upgraded to murder.

Diane Miller suffered a heart attack last week when the object was thrown through the open window of her car at a Karawara shopping centre.

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Wrongfully jailed man sues Queensland for $2.1m, alleging police officer acted with malice

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Exclusive: During 220 days in prison, Eamonn Coughlan says he was bashed, stabbed with a syringe and denied prescription drugs

A former British policeman wrongfully jailed for more than 200 days has lodged a $2.1m lawsuit against the state of Queensland and a police officer who – court documents allege – stated he “hated” the man, threatened to beat his wife and unnecessarily searched through her underwear drawers.

Former London Metropolitan police officer Eamonn Charles Coughlan was imprisoned for arson and attempted insurance fraud in 2019, but fully exonerated by the high court the following year.

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Chris Dawson likely to die in jail after being sentenced to 24 years for murder of wife Lynette

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The former Sydney schoolteacher and subject of the Teacher’s Pet podcast will be eligible for parole in 18 years

Former Sydney schoolteacher and rugby league star Chris Dawson has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for the historical murder of his wife Lynette, ending a decades-long campaign for justice.

The 74-year-old, in failing health, was told by the judge he will “probably die in jail”. He will be 92 when he is first eligible for parole after 18 years in prison, in August 2040.

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Six men charged over international drug ring after Sydney dawn raids seize cash, cocaine and crypto

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NSW police say several transnational organised criminal networks were collaborating on drug imports

Six Sydney men have been charged and millions of dollars in cash and drugs seized after a multi-agency police investigation into an international drug ring.

Another man was arrested in Los Angeles as part of a joint operation with US homeland security.

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Australian mother jailed for baby deaths should finally be cleared, say scientists

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Inquiry will hear new evidence of fatal gene mutation that may be to blame

In 2003 Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of smothering and killing her four young children, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura. She was given a prison sentence of 40 years and dubbed Australia’s worst female serial killer.

Folbigg had to be kept in protective custody to prevent violence from other inmates but has steadfastly maintained her innocence, a claim that has slowly gathered support over the years. Scientists, including several Nobel prize winners, have since argued that a mutant gene was responsible for the children’s deaths.

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Medibank hack: Clare O’Neil says new cybercrime operation will hunt down ‘Russian thugs’

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Officials drawn from AFP and the Australian Signals Directorate to form ‘joint standing operation’ against cybercriminal syndicates

Australia has awoken from a cyber “slumber” and will “day in, day out hunt down the scumbags” who have stolen the health data of nearly 10 million Australians, home affairs minister Clare O’Neil has said.

After the Russian embassy complained it had not been informed the Australian government would publicly accuse Russian cybercriminals of being behind a hack on private health insurer Medibank, O’Neil did not resile from publicly blaming Russians for the hack.

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Queensland offers $1m reward in pursuit of man in India suspected of Toyah Cordingley’s murder

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The 24-year-old’s body was found on a beach north of Cairns in 2018, prompting international manhunt

A $1m reward is on offer to help catch a man who police suspect may have murdered Toyah Cordingley on a Queensland beach before fleeing to India.

It has been four years since the 24-year-old was found in the dunes of Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, after what police have called “a personal and intimate attack”.

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Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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Billions in ‘dirty’ money going into NSW pokies should be addressed by cashless gaming card, crime commission says

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Review finds measure is needed to break ‘link between organised crime and gaming machines’

New South Wales should introduce a cashless gambling card to address the billions of dollars in “dirty” money being gambled in pubs and clubs in the state every year, the state’s crime commission has found.

On Wednesday a joint law enforcement agency inquiry into money laundering in NSW issued a damning final report that found “large sums” of the proceeds of crime are gambled by criminals in pubs and clubs across the state, “rewarding and perpetuating crime in the community”.

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