Police arrested 24-year-old man following tip-off about the boy’s transfer to Townsville hospital from an Indigenous community
A man has been charged with torturing and murdering a five-year-old boy he knew in an Indigenous community in far north Queensland.
The child died from his injuries in Townsville hospital on Monday after doctors had tried to save him for five days.
Continue reading...Queensland crime and corruption commission to investigate officer interactions with victim and her partner before house fire
A homicide investigation is under way into the death of a north Queensland woman who spoke with police officers hours before her home erupted into flames.
The 47-year-old Ayr woman died in hospital from severe burns after her house was gutted by a fire that police said was “probably deliberately lit” early on Tuesday morning.
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In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
Continue reading...Over five weeks of hearings, inquiry has heard allegations of police failures toward domestic violence victims
One in five allegations about Queensland police failures in responding to domestic violence complaints were investigated by officers working at the same station or work group, a commission of inquiry has heard.
The inquiry was told of 126 “failure of duty” allegations against the Queensland police service (QPS) recorded in the year to 30 May. Of those, 26 were investigated by an officer in the same station or work group, while 20 allegations were examined by someone of the same or lesser rank, the inquiry heard.
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Continue reading...Commission of inquiry into QPS response to domestic and family violence hears from women who say police did not take them seriously
A victim-survivor was told by a Queensland police officer to focus on being a “good mother” after reporting a “significant assault” by her ex-partner, a commission of inquiry has heard.
The inquiry into Queensland police service’s (QPS) responses to domestic and family violence on Tuesday heard multiple accounts from disillusioned victims who said their complaints had not been taken seriously.
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Continue reading...A 10-year-old girl and two boys, aged seven and five months, found dead inside a house fire in the Western Australian town on 19 July
A woman has been charged with the murder of her three children after their bodies were found in a house fire in the Western Australian town of Port Hedland.
A 10-year-old girl and two boys, aged seven and five months, were found dead inside the Anderson Street property by firefighters who responded to the blaze on 19 July.
Continue reading...Rebecca Burden was visiting her brain-injured dad for the first time in six months when she says he asked her to kill him
A Brisbane woman has been jailed for at least 10 months after admitting a lapse of judgment when she tried to suffocate her brain-injured father.
Rebecca Louise Burden was visiting 68-year-old Steven Burden for the first time she was permitted after Covid-19 restrictions lifted at his aged care home when she says he asked her to kill him.
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Continue reading...Bruce Morcombe asks filmgoers to not see Thomas M Wright’s The Stranger, but producers say it does not name Daniel or depict his death
The father of murdered Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe has called for Australians to boycott The Stranger, a film based on the undercover police operation that led to the arrest of Morcombe’s killer, which is scheduled to premiere next month.
On Friday, Bruce Morcombe told Perth’s 6PR radio station that filmgoers should “save their 20 bucks” on a film ticket and instead donate it to the foundation set up in his son’s name.
Continue reading...Justices Chris Maxwell and Terence Forrest said the ‘oppressive sentencing regime’ ignored evidence and was contrary to public interest
Victoria’s highest court has delivered a withering assessment of the state’s mandatory sentencing regime, saying it required “judges to be instruments of injustice” and showed a “profound misunderstanding” of the community’s best interests.
In a judgment published on Thursday, court of appeal president, Justice Chris Maxwell, and Justice Terence Forrest said introducing mandatory sentencing for a range of offences over the past decade showed that state governments appeared to have “ignored the incontestable evidence about the adverse impact of adult gaol on young offenders”.
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Continue reading...New regulations require scam messages to be traced, identified and blocked and for information to be shared with authorities
Mobile phone companies could face up to $250,000 in fines for failing to comply with a new code to block SMS scam messages.
The code, registered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) on Tuesday, will require the companies to trace, identify and block SMS scam messages, and publish information for customers on how to identify and report scams.
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Continue reading...Girl suffers non-life-threatening injuries after being shot outside her home in the southern suburb of Connells Point
A man has been charged after a nine-year-old girl was shot outside a home in Sydney’s south.
The child was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries as the state’s anti-bikie and organised crime squad hunted for the alleged gunman.
Continue reading...One set of charges laid and 22 matters still under investigation from police group set up to tackle anything from threats of violence to false information
Federal police conducted 39 investigations under a special taskforce related to the federal election, with numerous politicians and political candidates the target of threats, menacing phone calls and social media harassment.
Police laid one set of charges over threats to the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, while police are still making inquiries around a further 22 matters that are ongoing.
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Continue reading...‘Women have had enough,’ says Prof Kerry Carrington, who has been advocating for domestic violence stations since 2015
The violent murders of Doreen Langham and Hannah Clarke by their former partners should be a wakeup call to all Australian jurisdictions to consider specialist domestic violence police stations, according to experts and family members of the victims.
A trial of specialist stations has been recommended twice this week by deputy Queensland coroner Jane Bentley, as she handed down findings from separate inquests into the murders of Langham, on Monday, and Clarke and her children – Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey – on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Packs contain 52 photos of dead and missing people in initiative backed by victims’ families
Packs of playing cards featuring cold-case murder victims and missing people will be distributed to New South Wales inmates in the hope of solving serious crimes.
The cards, which were produced by prisoners working in Corrective Services Industries, feature photographs and information about 52 unsolved homicide cases or suspicious disappearances.
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Continue reading...Zumbo is accused by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault and has pleaded not guilty to all charges
Former MP Craig Kelly’s office manager promised young female staffers career development and mentoring but instead used his “power and control” to allegedly sexually touch them.
Francesco Zumbo, 55, faced Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Wednesday accused by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault between 2014 and 2020.
Continue reading...Attorney general Shannon Fentiman awaiting legal advice about the possibility of an appeal
A Queensland teenager who struck and killed a couple in a stolen car while he was drunk and affected by drugs could have his sentence appealed.
The families of victims Matthew Field, 37, and his pregnant partner, Kate Leadbetter, 31, said the 10-year jail sentence handed to the 18-year-old was “grossly inadequate”.
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Continue reading...Pandemic has contributed to ‘destabilisation of world order’ leading to weaponisation of technology, Reece Kershaw says
The Australian federal police commissioner has urged his Five Eyes counterparts to ramp up the fight against organised crime, declaring the pandemic has fuelled “the destabilisation of the world order”.
Reece Kershaw issued a rallying call for closer coordination on law enforcement as he addressed colleagues from the US, Canada, the UK and New Zealand, who have been visiting Australia for talks since Monday.
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Continue reading...Minister acknowledges family of Shandee Blackburn, who was fatally stabbed in 2013 in a case that sparked calls for reform
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has announced a commission of inquiry into DNA testing at the state’s Forensic and Scientific Services laboratory after accusations it has been failing victims of crime.
The inquiry will be conducted by Walter Sofronoff, the president of the court of appeal, and comes in addition to a previously announced review into the state-run forensics laboratory.
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Continue reading...The 73-year-old, who was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months in prison, has been granted parole and will be deported to UK upon release
Disgraced Hey Dad! actor and convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes has been granted parole and will be deported to the United Kingdom after his release from jail this month.
Hughes, who starred as Martin Kelly in the TV comedy from 1987 to 1994, was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months in prison, which is due to expire in January 2025.
Continue reading...Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez strangled and stabbed her mother, but continues to deny any involvement
A woman found guilty of murder has wiped away tears as she continued to deny strangling and stabbing her mother to death two decades ago.
“I don’t understand, I didn’t do it,” Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez said to her legal counsel in the New South Wales supreme court on Wednesday.
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Continue reading...A colleague at childcare centre where Lynette Dawson worked tells court she saw bruises in January 1982
Chris Dawson’s wife Lynette was seen with bruises around her throat three days before she disappeared in 1982, a Sydney court has been told.
Annette Leary gave evidence in Dawson’s murder trial on Monday saying she had seen Lynette Dawson with the bruises at the Sydney children’s centre where they both worked.
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