Category Archives: Crime – Australia

Celeste Manno murderer Luay Sako faked psychosis symptoms, Victorian supreme court hears

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Man who stalked 23-year-old Melbourne woman pretended he was experiencing psychosis when he killed her, psychiatrist tells court

A man who stabbed a young woman to death repeatedly faked symptoms of psychosis while being assessed for a mental impairment defence, a court has heard.

Luay Sako, 39, told three psychiatrists there was a being called “Isha” who encouraged him to kill 23-year-old Celeste Manno in the early hours of 16 November 2020.

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Snowtown ‘bodies-in-the-barrels’ accomplice Mark Ray Haydon due for release in May

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SA government seeks legal advice on whether new laws criminalising concealing or interfering with human remains could keep inmate in jail

A man imprisoned for his involvement the Snowtown murders, one of Australia’s most notorious crimes, could be free within months.

Mark Ray Haydon was convicted for his role in the so-called “bodies in the barrels” murders in Snowtown, South Australia, in the 1990s. Eight of the 11 people killed were found in barrels in a disused bank vault in the town, which is 150km north of Adelaide. A 12th death was linked to the killers.

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Andrew O’Keefe avoids jail time for assault and drug possession convictions

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Judge tells court assault was ‘violent and degrading’ as former TV host ordered to serve 18 months on community corrections order

The former TV host Andrew O’Keefe has avoided jail despite being found guilty of “violent and degrading” domestic attacks.

The broadcaster was hit with three sets of charges over multiple incidents in 2021, including assault causing actual bodily harm, breaching a domestic violence order and possession of the synthetic stimulant drug mephedrone. O’Keefe denied the charges.

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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

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Disgraced NSW detective Roger ‘The Dodger’ Rogerson dies in jail aged 83

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Former police officer was serving a life sentence for the 2014 murder of Sydney drug dealer Jamie Gao

Disgraced former New South Wales police officer Roger Rogerson has died in hospital aged 83.

Known as “The Dodger”, the controversial and charismatic tough cop turned killer was moved from Long Bay prison to Sydney’s Prince of Wales hospital last Thursday where he was receiving end-of-life care.

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Former Sydney teacher didn’t begin relationship with student until after she left school, court told

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Maths teacher claims student made ‘constant calls’ to family home and says they tried to ‘put a stop to it’

A former elite Sydney high school teacher accused of unlawful sexual activity with a student didn’t start a relationship with her until the girl actively pursued the teacher after she left the school, a court has heard.

The mathematics teacher, who cannot legally be named, is on trial at Downing centre court for allegedly forming a sexual relationship with a minor after she became their pupil in 1984. The teacher has pleaded not guilty to one charge of carnal knowledge.

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Maths teacher allegedly groomed teenage student at elite Sydney high school before having sex with her, jury told

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Court told teacher formed close relationship with student’s mother and took student out for dinner

A mathematics teacher at an elite Sydney high school started grooming a teenage girl almost immediately after meeting the student, a jury has heard.

The teacher, who cannot be legally identified, is on trial in the Downing Centre district court for alleged unlawful sexual activity with the student who turned 17 years old in 1984. The teacher has pleaded not guilty to one charge of carnal knowledge.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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Tobacco wars: Victoria police ‘turning the corner’ in battle against arson attacks as more arrests made

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Police arrest four men and a boy alleged to be connected to the Finks motorcycle gang and a series of arson attacks on tobacco stores

Police have arrested four men and a boy believed to be connected to the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang and a series of arson attacks on tobacco stores in Victoria.

The arrests are the latest example of police responding to the so-called tobacco wars, which have seen criminal gangs fight for control of the “significant source of income” generated by the sale of illicit tobacco.

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Three men allegedly linked to bikie gang arrested after Melbourne tobacco shop torched twice in two days

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Police allege the men are connected to fires at the Altona business, as well as an arson attack at a Croydon tobacco shop

Three men allegedly linked to a bikie gang have been arrested after a twice-targeted tobacco shop was destroyed by fire and another was set alight on Christmas Day.

The first blaze broke out at the shopfront on Pier Street in Altona just before 4am on Thursday.

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Triple murderer Farquharson loses claim over gravesites of children he murdered

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Robert Farquharson’s name has been removed from the headstone of his three children, whom he murdered in 2005

Robert Farquharson has been stripped of his control over the gravestones of the three children he murdered when he drove a car into a dam in 2005, after a Victorian government intervention.

Farquharson is the first convicted person in Victoria to lose the rights over a family member’s gravesite after legislative changes in 2021. It comes almost two decades since he deliberately drove his three children into a dam in south-western Victoria, in an act of revenge against his ex-partner for leaving him.

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Sydney police uncover alleged plot to kill OneFour rap group members

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Two men, including 26-year-old arrested in Cartwright, are expected to be charged with conspiracy to murder, drug and firearm offences

Police have arrested two men over an alleged plot to kill four members of western Sydney rap group OneFour.

A 26-year-old man was arrested in a raid at Cartwright in Sydney’s south-west early on Thursday, and was expected to be charged with a range of conspiracy, drug and firearm offences. The man was allegedly coordinating a criminal cell taking on contract work, sometimes from rival criminal networks, to carry out serious and violent crime such as murders and kidnappings, according to a NSW Police statement.

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Steven Miles says Queensland crime is not ‘worsening’ as new data shows spike in assaults and domestic violence

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Queensland premier rejects opposition’s interpretation of numbers, as the total crime rate remains below mid-2000s levels

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, says crime is “not clearly worsening” after the release of new police data that showed significant spikes in assaults and domestic violence offending.

The state opposition and several media reports have called the crime data the worst in two decades – highlighting raw numbers that showed more total offences committed in 2023 than any other year since 2000.

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Alleged vigilantes charged with assaulting and restraining boys near Cairns

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Two men, who have been denied bail, claim three boys were trespassing in Mareeba when they allegedly assaulted and handcuffed them

A pair of alleged vigilantes have been charged with assaulting and handcuffing three boys they believed to be trespassing in an industrial area in Mareeba, near Cairns.

A 36-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, both from Biboohra, have been denied police bail over the incident, involving three boys aged 12 to 14 on 23 December.

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Chris Minns says police not to blame for Aboriginal imprisonment as country mayors push for crime inquiry

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Exclusive: ‘We can’t just put it all on the police’s shoulders’ says NSW premier as Aboriginal people make up 59% of juvenile detention population

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended the way police interact with young Aboriginal people and said the force is not to blame for disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.

Speaking in Bourke, in far western NSW, Minns also said he was reluctant to meet the demands of the Country Mayors Association, police union and some Nationals MPs to hold an inquiry into regional crime.

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Convicted Melbourne terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika to be released from prison

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Electronic monitoring and rules on who he can associate with will be imposed by Victorian supreme court

Convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika is set to be released from prison within hours and placed on an extended supervision order that will force him to comply with 30 conditions, including electronic monitoring.

The Victorian supreme court heard on Tuesday that Benbrika would be released later on Tuesday – after spending nearly 20 years behind bars – after the order was finalised.

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Criminals tipped off after law enforcement staff shared photo of intercepted shipping container on WhatsApp

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The 2020 blunder, whereby more than 400 Australian public servants received the photo, revealed in annual report of former corruption watchdog

A criminal syndicate was tipped off to a covert operation after federal law enforcement staff shared photos of an intercepted shipping container with more than 400 public servants across multiple agencies.

The blunder compromised the investigation, prompted a multi-agency corruption investigation and led to written warnings to the heads of the Department of Home Affairs, the federal police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

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Chiropractor asks for no jail time after subjecting refugee to forced labour at Melbourne confectionery shop

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Seyyed Farshchi, 50, worked refugee ‘relentlessly’ for little pay and threatened to have him sent back to his home country

A Melbourne chiropractor who subjected a vulnerable refugee to forced labour for his own financial gain has urged a judge not to send him to prison.

A county court jury in October found Seyyed Farshchi, 50, guilty of causing a person to remain in forced labour and conducting a business involving forced labour.

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Two people charged after abducting two-year-old boy from Coffs Harbour

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Toddler later found almost 300km away in Tenterfield after police issued an amber alert

Two people, a woman and a man, have been charged with the alleged abduction of a toddler on the far north coast of New South Wales.

An amber alert was issued late on Friday after a 61-year-old woman was allegedly injured outside an office in Coffs Harbour, and the two-year-old boy taken away by the man.

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Australia news live: Daniel Andrews fires up over ‘Dictator Dan’ moniker; festival-goers warned about heatwave conditions

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Former Victorian premier gives first interview after resignation, saying ‘the haters hate and the rest vote Labor’. Follow the day’s news live

James Ashby to stand for One Nation in Queensland seat

James Ashby, the chief of staff to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, will stand for the party in the seat of Keppel at next year’s Queensland state election, AAP reports.

The Nationals are dead in Queensland’s parliament while the Liberals are lurching further left in their attempts to secure inner-Brisbane seats.

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Inquiry reviews convictions of ‘Croatian Six’ over 1979 Sydney bomb plot

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Judicial inquiry reviewing convictions of group jailed in 1981 over alleged terror plot to blow up Sydney targets

The testimony of a key witness and actions of a corrupt New South Wales police officer will be probed during an inquiry into the 1981 terror plot convictions of a group known as the ‘Croatian Six’.

The judicial inquiry, which began on Monday, will examine the possibility that Crown witness Vico Virkez may have been working for Yugoslavian intelligence services.

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‘Silly games’: doomsday prepper jailed for arsenal of guns and weapons stashed on Victorian farm

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Judge jails ex-Australian army soldier for at least 15 months, urges him to leave ‘survivalists to their silly games’

A survivalist caught hiding a serious arsenal of weapons including machine guns should leave the zombie killers to their “silly games” a judge has urged, sentencing him to prison time.

Aleziah Tolkein Spiers was caught illegally storing 16 dangerous weapons, including under the floors of a shearing shed on his former father-in-law’s property in central Victoria where he had run survivalist workshops.

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