Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Police officer who tasered Clare Nowland was ‘fed up’ she would not drop steak knife, jury told

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Kristian White did not consider 95-year-old a threat and fired stun gun because he was ‘impatient’ and ‘not prepared to wait any longer’, manslaughter trial told

A police officer’s cursing just before he tasered an elderly woman who was holding a knife showed the aged-care resident was not a threat but that he was simply fed up with the situation, a jury has heard.

Dramatic footage of the incident taken from the nursing home’s CCTV and police bodyworn cameras has been shown at a NSW supreme court manslaughter trial for Sen Const Kristian White.

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Police officer who tasered Clare Nowland tells court taking knife from her hand came with ‘high risk’

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Sen Const Kristian White says situation with 95-year-old carrying knife ‘was not going to be resolved without the use of force’

A police officer who fatally tasered a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home said he tried to give her “every opportunity to drop the knife” she was carrying, but she had “made her intent clear: she was going to use that knife on anyone that got near her”.

Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White also told the court simply taking the knife out of Clare Nowland’s hand came with “risk, high risk”.

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Woman caught with golden gun in luggage at Sydney airport ‘deeply regrets’ actions, court hears

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Liliana Goodson is ‘capable of rehabilitation’ after being caught travelling from US to Australia with firearm, lawyer says

A woman who “deeply regrets” packing a gun in her bag before she flew to Australia will face sentencing in December following further delays in her court case.

Liliana Goodson admitted illegally importing an unauthorised illegal firearm and illegally importing ammunition as she faced a hearing earlier this year.

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No adverse findings in probe into elite Northern Territory police triggered by offensive ‘awards’

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Corruption watchdog rules out further investigation into racism within the force despite evidence of historical racial discrimination

WARNING: This article contains offensive content

A corruption watchdog has closed an investigation into racism within the Northern Territory police force’s elite tactical response group with no adverse findings despite uncovering historical evidence of race-based discrimination.

The probe was triggered after former constable Zachary Rolfe attempted to prove the force’s ingrained culture of racism, using as evidence a historical racist mock-award handed out in the group to the officer who behaved “most like an Aboriginal”.

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Police ‘should have done more’ to save Melbourne woman stabbed to death by ex-partner in front of children

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Family violence unit officers missed opportunities to protect Noeline Dalzell before James Fairhall murdered her, Victoria’s coroner says

Police missed an opportunity to protect a woman who was stabbed to death by her ex-partner in front of their three children, Victoria’s state coroner has found.

Noeline Dalzell was murdered by James Fairhall at her home in Melbourne’s south-east in February 2020, three months after he was released from custody for breaching a family violence intervention order.

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Police to charge man who allegedly carjacked 70-year-old and held father and toddler in Melbourne siege

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The 26-year-old Snake Valley man remains in hospital with police expecting to charge him on Wednesday afternoon

A man will be charged after allegedly carjacking a 70-year-old woman before breaking into a Melbourne home and holding a father and his toddler inside in an hours-long siege.

A 26-year-old Snake Valley man, known to police, allegedly carjacked the woman in the western Victorian town about 2.30pm on Tuesday.

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Boy, 16, charged with manslaughter after alleged gunpoint carjacking near Brisbane

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Teenager in custody after 69-year-old woman killed and two police officers injured in Murrumba Downs collision

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter after a fatal crash north of Brisbane that followed an alleged carjacking at gunpoint.

The teenager was taken into custody after a 69-year-old woman was killed and two police officers injured in the “harrowing” collision on Thursday.

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Community mourns ‘passionate’ young rapper killed in Melbourne as alleged shooter remains on the run

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Friends warned against seeking retribution after man in his 20s dies of gunshot wounds in North Melbourne

Family and friends are grieving the loss of a “talented and sociable” young rapper who died after he was allegedly shot by a man who remains on the run.

The man in his 20s was found with gunshot wounds on Langford Street in North Melbourne about 3.15am on Saturday and died at the scene.

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Australia news live: PwC reveals it sacked eight staff over data breaches; Perth man dies after being taken to police watch house

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Court to rule in Pauline Hanson-Mehreen Faruqi case

A federal court judge is ready to rule on whether Pauline Hanson made a racial slur when she told Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi to go back to Pakistan.

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NSW police dogs died in car’s special cooling ‘pod’ when engine switched off, force says

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Investigation under way into whether mechanical failure resulted in deaths of German shepherds Xtra and Soldier in Sydney

New South Wales police are investigating whether engine failure led to a police car’s air conditioning failing and the subsequent death of two police dogs inside a special “dog pod”.

The German shepherds Xtra and Soldier were found dead inside the police vehicle by their handler on Thursday at about 12.30pm.

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‘Hold your little ones really tight’: how an ordinary Melbourne primary school pick-up turned to tragedy

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Auburn South primary school community mourns car crash victim Jack Davey, 11, as four students remain in hospital

It was an afternoon recess on what should have been an ordinary, sunny spring Tuesday at Auburn South primary school.

Within the grounds of the Melbourne school, five primary school students were seated around an outdoor table overlooking a soccer pitch. Moments later, the scene turned to one of horror.

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NSW police fight to stop Newcastle port ‘protestival’ in second court challenge to protests in a month

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Rising Tide event would involve thousands of paddling climate activists blocking coal exports

The New South Wales police force is challenging a planned protest through the supreme court for the second time this month – this time an event in Newcastle calling for climate action.

The November protest is organised by Rising Tide and known as the “People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port”. It would involve thousands of activists paddling into the Port of Newcastle on kayaks and rafts to stop coal exports from leaving Newcastle for 50 hours.

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Shock and grief as boy, 11, dies and four children injured after car crashes through Melbourne school fence

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Victorian premier says ‘dark shadow’ has been cast over city after collision at Auburn South primary school in Hawthorn East

A child has died and four others remain in hospital with serious injuries after a car crashed into a school in Melbourne’s inner east.

Emergency services rushed to the collision that occurred just after 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon at Auburn South primary school in Hawthorn East.

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Belimbla Park plane crash: three people killed after mid-air collision in Sydney’s south-west

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NSW police say two crime scenes secured after reports two light planes collided near Oakdale

Three people are dead after two light planes collided in mid-air before crashing in Sydney’s south-west.

NSW police confirmed the fatal crash occurred at about 11.50am on Saturday, at Belimbla Park, near Oakdale.

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Police find vapes worth $8m after being called to Melbourne warehouse robbery

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About 200,000 e-cigarettes found in Box Hill South after officers were told of reported burglary on Thursday

Victorian police called to an early morning break-in this week found something unexpected: about 200,000 illegal vapes worth $8m.

The vapes were found in a warehouse in Melbourne’s outer east after officers responded to reports of a commercial robbery, police said in a statement on Saturday.

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‘It was awful’: Annie’s worst fears came true after she accused her police officer partner of DV

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Since 2017 in NSW, 120 officers have been charged with domestic violence offences. But advocates believe many victims are too scared to report

Annie* was in a relationship with a police officer for more than a decade. During that time, she says, he was manipulative and assaulted her.

When she finally got the courage to report her allegations of domestic violence to the police, a different command to where her partner worked investigated it. But then she realised that some of the officers in that command knew him.

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Australia news live: Bondi beach reopens after tar-ball pollution; tornado warning for Victoria

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Waverley council says no remaining evidence of the debris could be found at Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches. Follow today’s news live

Max Chandler-Mather continued, and told ABC News Breakfast:

I would argue in this instance in the context of one of the worst housing crises we have seen in generations … now is precisely the time where we need more than tinkering around the edges and we need substantial change.

There is a building consensus we need to scrap these tax handouts. Increasingly the biggest barrier is a prime minister [who has just] gone through multiple days of scandal for buying another property and being a property investor.

So I think there’s a real moment here the government should seize to make real substantial change to the lives of hundreds of thousands of renters, and the bottom line is the Greens are ready and willing to work with Labor to do it.

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Toddler, 3, dies after allegedly being hit by car in Melbourne’s south-east

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Man charged with dangerous driving after girl allegedly struck by a vehicle in Endeavour Hills

A three-year-old girl has died in hospital after being hit by a car on a major thoroughfare in Melbourne’s south-east on Thursday.

Emergency services were called to Heatherton Road, near the intersection of James Cook Drive, in Endeavour Hills about 8.30am on Thursday, following reports a child had been struck by vehicle.

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Spit hoods to be used on Northern Territory children again as ban ends, police chief confirms

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Controversial devices were barred by former Labor government but will return to watch houses after tough-on-crime CLP’s election win

Spit hoods will again be used to restrain children in the Northern Territory, the police commissioner has confirmed.

The controversial devices were banned in NT youth detention centres following a landmark royal commission established in 2016 and were subsequently eliminated in South Australia and New South Wales in all custodial settings.

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Victoria police officer suspended over alleged Nazi salutes and ‘Heil Hitler’ comments

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The female sergeant, a veteran of 40 years in the force, allegedly made banned gesture on Tuesday and Wednesday in front of colleagues

The Victoria police chief commissioner has apologised to the Jewish community after a veteran sergeant allegedly performed a Nazi salute to colleagues at the police academy twice this week.

The 65-year-old woman was suspended with pay on Friday evening while police launched a criminal investigation into the alleged incidents, which included her allegedly saying “Heil Hitler” on both occasions, Shane Patton said.

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