Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Tasmanian judge facing assault charge tells court his former partner ‘fell’

Posted on by

Court hears Gregory Geason, who denies assaulting the woman, searched ‘how to get domestic violence charges dropped’ in days after argument

A Tasmanian supreme court judge denied punching his former partner and pushing her into a mantelpiece, telling a court she was unsteady, fell and hit her head on a table.

Justice Gregory Geason is facing a court hearing after pleading not guilty to assault and one count of emotional abuse or intimidation.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

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...

Mother of NSW police shooting victim demands mental health reforms a year after son’s death

Posted on by

Judy Deacon will lead a Sydney rally to press her case that police no longer be sent as first responders in mental health emergencies

A year ago to the day, Judy Deacon got a call to head to the police station.

The 80-year-old expected the issue to be that her son, Jesse, had been hospitalised again. But on her way there, she got a phone call from Jesse’s father. He was crying, and as soon as she heard the tears, she knew her son had died, she said.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Harrowing’ footage sparks calls for Queensland government to remove children from police watch houses

Posted on by

Exclusive: Labor MP Jonty Bush among those speaking out about state’s youth justice policies after Guardian Australia investigation

Queensland’s most prominent victims’ rights groups say the state government must remove children from police watch houses after the release of confronting footage showing the “brutal” treatment of children in the adult holding cells.

The videos, published after a year-long investigation by Guardian Australia and SBS The Feed, showed young people locked in “freezing” isolation cells, becoming panicked and struggling to breathe.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW police detective found to have committed ‘serious misconduct’ following car crash after work drinks

Posted on by

Law Enforcement Conduct Commission makes two findings of serious misconduct including for allegedly leaving crash scene in NorthConnex ‘to avoid being breath-tested’

The New South Wales police watchdog has made two findings of “serious misconduct” against a high-ranking detective who crashed a work car while allegedly drunk in the NorthConnex tunnel in May 2023.

The police officer, whose identity is secret due to a 40-year court order, pleaded not guilty in December to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and high-range drink-driving, nearly seven months after the incident happened last May.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Woman charged with murder after body found in Melbourne river

Posted on by

Police say 49-year-old was arrested alongside a teen, who was released without charge, after woman’s body discovered in Maribyrnong River

A woman has been charged with murder after another woman’s body was found in a river in inner Melbourne.

The body was discovered by a passerby in the Maribyrnong River, near Smithfield Road in Flemington, on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Tasmanian judge allegedly assaulted partner after seeing funny photo from her colleague, court hears

Posted on by

Supreme court justice Gregory Geason has pleaded not guilty to emotional abuse or intimidation and common assault

A Tasmanian supreme court judge allegedly assaulted a woman and left her with two large “egg” bumps on her head after he saw a funny photo she received from a colleague, a court has heard.

The woman, who cannot be named, continued giving evidence on Tuesday in a hearing over her alleged “controlling and coercive” relationship with Tasmanian justice Gregory Geason.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Police search for teenager bailed over alleged crash that killed 28-year-old in Melbourne

Posted on by

Police allege 17-year-old has failed to comply with bail conditions and his location is unknown

Police are searching for a teenager who was charged and bailed after an alleged crash that killed a 28-year-old man.

Victoria police on Tuesday afternoon alleged the 17-year-old failed to comply with his bail conditions and his whereabouts was unknown.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Man charged with murder over alleged DV-related stabbing death in Sydney’s west

Posted on by

Twenty-one-year-old arrested in Penrith after woman found with two stab wounds to her chest at Kingswood on Monday

A man has been charged after the stabbing of a young woman in an alleged domestic violence-related murder in Sydney’s west.

The 21-year-old was arrested in Penrith and was due to face court on Tuesday, after the woman was found with two stab wounds to her chest.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Police seek Sydney woman’s partner over alleged stabbing death – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Australians feel ‘crushing burden’ from humanitarian crises

Many Australians are feeling a “crushing burden” as they see images from multiple humanitarian crises around the world, a prominent charity says.

I think sometimes people see this stuff on the news or read about it in the newspaper and they feel like they have to carry this burden on their own shoulder, and so they have nothing in between crisis and themselves.

And they look at something like what’s happening in Gaza and Israel, what’s happening in Ukraine, what’s happening now in Sudan, and think how can they possibly make a difference? What can they possibly do to make that situation better? And so it feels like a crushing burden.

Abortion is a very personal choice, and every Queenslander deserves the level of support and care we are offering with this investment.

Continue reading...

Queensland LNP criticised over ‘cruel’ plan to sentence some youth offenders as adults

Posted on by

Policy unveiled by leader David Crisafulli on Sunday means those convicted of crimes such as manslaughter and robbery would face regular criminal code

Queensland’s top social services body has criticised a Queensland LNP proposal to sentence many youth criminals as adults, saying it is “cruel”, “populist” and ineffective.

On Sunday, the opposition leader, David Crisafulli, used the party convention to announce the “adult crime, adult time” policy, which he said would act as a deterrence by subjecting children to much longer potential sentences behind bars.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘False phone calls’ diverted police from Gaza war protest at Parliament House, AFP chief alleges

Posted on by

Australian federal police commissioner says force is investigating whether ‘diversionary tactics’ were used while activists allegedly trespassed on roof

The Australian federal police are investigating whether “diversionary tactics” were used to distract police as four people allegedly trespassed onto Parliament House’s roof to protest the war in Gaza.

On Thursday, the AFP’s commissioner, Reece Kershaw, told a Senate estimates hearing the protest was “premeditated” and he considered the diversionary tactics, which allegedly distracted police to other incidents inside and away from Parliament House, a “criminal act”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Teen accused of driving stolen Jeep in fatal Melbourne crash faces court as three males remain on the run

Posted on by

Boy, 17, charged over driving an allegedly stolen car in a fatal crash that killed a 28-year-old man in Burwood

A teen accused of driving a stolen Jeep that killed another driver was checked on by police hours after the crash and found in bed with a doona pulled up to his chin, police allege.

Police are relying on a pair of white shoes, a phone call and an accusation by a young female co-accused to prove the 17-year-old was behind the wheel during the deadly crash.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Victoria police make 2,700 arrests in five-month domestic violence blitz in south-east Melbourne

Posted on by

Police say 7,500 charges laid, including against a man, 42, who allegedly stabbed a woman and assaulted a teenager in front of two younger children

A man who allegedly stabbed a woman and assaulted a teenager in front of two children was among 2,700 arrests by Victoria police during a five-month blitz targeting family violence offenders in Melbourne’s south-east.

Victoria police on Thursday said 7,500 charges had been laid as a result of the blitz, between January and June of this year.

Continue reading...

Synthetic opioid detected in bodies of four people found dead in Melbourne home

Posted on by

Police confirm drug’s presence after deaths of boy, 17, and three adults in Broadmeadows last week

A synthetic opioid has been found in the bodies of four people found dead in a Melbourne home last week, police say.

The bodies of the 17-year-old boy, two men aged 32 and 37, and a 42-year-old woman were discovered at the property in Broadmeadows, in Melbourne’s north, in the early hours of 25 June.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Three women killed, more injured in bus crash in Whitsunday region

Posted on by

Bus was carrying 33 people when it came off Bruce Highway north of Gumlu on Sunday morning after crashing into four-wheel drive towing a caravan

Three women have died after the coach they were travelling in collided with a caravan in the Whitsunday region on Queensland’s northern coast.

The bus was carrying 33 people when it came off the Bruce Highway, 8km north of Gumlu, on Sunday morning after crashing into the caravan, which was being towed by a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Indonesian boys jailed by Australia claim no translation provided in court

Posted on by

Minors who were locked up in adult prisons for people smuggling say they could not understand proceedings and thought they were going home

Vulnerable Indonesian children say they were either given no interpreter or an interpreter who spoke the wrong language during deeply flawed people smuggling prosecutions, leaving them unable to understand court proceedings before their imprisonment by Australia in maximum security adult jails.

The Australian government last year agreed to pay $27.5m in compensation to more than 200 Indonesians who were wrongfully prosecuted and detained as adult people smugglers while they were children.

Continue reading...

Fatima Payman admits she ‘upset a few colleagues’ by crossing the floor – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Housing minister Julie Collins is speaking to the ABC RN about Labor’s build-to-rent bill which was knocked back in the Senate yesterday, with the Greens and the Coalition combining to delay it:

What we want to do is get this done. We’ve already been consulting, we announced it in the previous budget. Any delays will actually stop the pipeline of construction and the certainty for the sector.

What we want to do is get more affordable homes and more homes of every type on the ground as quickly as we can.

We’re saying they have to have a minimum of 10% to be eligible for the tax concessions that we’re talking about for each development.

That’s what our consultations and our discussions with the sector have done and, as I said, this is not the only thing we’re doing for affordable homes … My point here is that they continually delay and block housing up every time by coming together and having this unholy alliance between the Liberals and the Greens in the Senate, because they’re more interested in votes than they are about people.

We’re not open to negotiation and we want to get this done.

Continue reading...

Teenager charged with planning terrorist attack after allegedly entering NSW MP’s office with ‘intention to kill’

Posted on by

Labor MP for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said he and his staff were safe and unharmed after the ‘very serious incident’

A New South Wales teenager has been charged with planning a terrorist attack after he allegedly entered Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp’s office carrying items including “knives and tactical equipment” with the “intention to kill”.

Jordan Patten, a 19-year-old from Raymond Terrace, was arrested in Newcastle after midday on Wednesday and was charged with one count of preparing or planning a terrorist act.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bus driver charged over Brisbane crash that killed 18-year-old Tia Cameron abused outside court

Posted on by

Insults hurled at Lindsay Selby, who has not yet entered a plea, while leaving Brisbane court after being charged over a fatal CBD bus crash

A bus driver charged after a Brisbane CBD crash in which 18-year-old Tia Cameron died has been abused while leaving court.

Lindsay Francis Selby, 70, was also targeted by some of Cameron’s supporters outside Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday in heated scenes.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Reports of young men with weapons at Westfield shopping centre in Adelaide sparks lockdown

Posted on by

South Australia police investigate after reports of two groups of young males fighting in food court area of the Westfield Marion centre

A fight between two groups of teenagers in a food court has sent a major Adelaide shopping centre into lockdown.

South Australia police received reports just before 3pm on Sunday of two groups fighting in the food court area of the Westfield Marion shopping centre in Oaklands Park.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...