Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Shadow energy minister says system in ‘dire trouble’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Australia needs more gas supply on east coast, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese is speaking to the ABC from Devonport.

We’ll work those issues through with Aemo.

We need more gas supply. We announced our future gas strategy a short while ago because we understand that we need more supply. Gas has an important role to play in manufacturing in particular. But also in providing firming capacity for the renewables rollout.

Continue reading...

Man charged over alleged Queensland shooting murder lost gun licence three years ago, police say

Posted on by

South Mackay man, 31, charged with murder and attempted murder over Robb Place shootings as police investigate how he allegedly gained access to firearm

A Queensland woman was leaving for a sporting activity when a neighbour allegedly shot her dead in her car in front of two girls.

Ryan Geoffrey Cole, 31, has been charged with murdering the woman and shooting another person who came to her aid in Mackay, north Queensland.

Continue reading...

An affair, a hunting trip and two people dead at a high country camp: how the Greg Lynn case unfolded – a timeline

Posted on by

The former Jetstar pilot pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay in the Wonnangatta Valley in 2020. Here’s everything you need to know in the lead-up to the verdict

Former pilot Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has faced a four-week trial after pleading not guilty to murdering campers Russell Hill, 74 and Carol Clay, 73 in Victoria’s high country in 2020.

As the jury considers a verdict, here’s everything to know about how the missing person investigation and trial unfolded:

Continue reading...

Police offer $1m reward to solve murder of Maria James inside Melbourne bookshop

Posted on by

Catholic priest Anthony Bongiorno and Peter Keogh, both dead, previously named as persons of interest

Almost 44 years after Maria James’s brutal murder in her Melbourne bookshop, her two sons hope a $1m reward will finally unmask her killer.

James, whose second-hand bookshop on High Street at Thornbury in Melbourne’s north also functioned as her home, was killed there on 17 June 1980 in what her son Mark described as a “ritualistic”, violent and frenzied attack. She was found dead after being stabbed 68 times.

Continue reading...

Two NSW police officers charged with assaulting 92-year-old man in Sydney

Posted on by

Elderly man taken to hospital with a fractured and significant bruising after alleged assault in Picton, police say

Two New South Wales police officers have been charged with assaulting a 92-year-old man who was later admitted to hospital with a fractured elbow and significant bruising to his head and arms.

The alleged assault occurred at a home in Picton, in Sydney’s south-west, in January after police were called to a domestic violence incident by the elderly man’s wife, who had made two calls to triple 0 and “likely” had dementia.

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

Continue reading...

Judge in Greg Lynn murder trial says jury can’t find him guilty of manslaughter as an alternate verdict

Posted on by

Justice Michael Croucher summarises case to jurors after ex-Jetstar pilot pleaded not guilty to murdering campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay

The jury in the trial of a former Jetstar pilot accused of murdering two elderly campers in the Victorian high country will not be able to consider an alternative charge of manslaughter, the state’s supreme court has heard.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, at a remote camping site in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

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

Continue reading...

‘He was selfish’: Greg Lynn covered up deaths because he believed he would be blamed, murder trial told

Posted on by

Victorian supreme court hears closing arguments in trial of ex-Jetstar pilot who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay

A former Jetstar pilot accused of murdering two elderly campers in the Victorian high country covered up the deaths because he believed he would be blamed after he incorrectly stored his guns, his defence barrister has told the state’s supreme court.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, at a remote camping site in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

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

Continue reading...

‘He knew he had murdered them’: Greg Lynn covered up campers’ deaths to conceal his crimes, court hears

Posted on by

Closing arguments begin in trial of former pilot, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay

The only reasonable explanation for a former Jetstar pilot to cover up the deaths of two elderly campers in the Victorian high country was because “he knew he had murdered them”, the state’s supreme court has heard.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, at a remote camping site in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

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

Continue reading...

Man accused of seeking $300,000 from woman he allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Sydney

Posted on by

Man, 29, extradited from Victoria on Thursday after police alleged he threatened to release photos of assault

A man alleged to have drugged and kidnapped a woman before photographing himself sexually assaulting her and attempting to extort a $300,000 payment for the images has been extradited from Victoria to New South Wales.

Yanyu Mu, 29, was arrested at Oakleigh East in Melbourne’s south-east on Thursday, before being extradited to Sydney.

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

Continue reading...

‘Very sorry for your suffering’: Greg Lynn apologises at murder trial for actions after campers’ deaths

Posted on by

Former Jetstar pilot describes struggle that led to deaths of Russell Hill and Carol Clay, after pleading not guilty to murder


A former Jetstar pilot accused of killing two elderly campers in the Victorian high country has apologised to their families for the “suffering that I caused” and testified that he did not murder them.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has taken the stand in the Victorian supreme court on Thursday, after pleading not guilty to murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, at a remote camping site in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

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

Continue reading...

‘Who pulled the trigger?’: verdict looms for Charlise Mutten’s alleged murderer Justin Stein

Posted on by

Jury begins deliberations over whether Stein, 33, murdered his former partner’s daughter. He has pleaded not guilty

A jury has begun deliberations over the alleged murder of Charlise Mutten after being told the issue in the case is not how the schoolgirl died but who pulled the trigger.

Charlise’s body was found near the Colo River, north-west of Sydney, on 18 January 2022 with gunshot wounds to her face and lower back.

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

Continue reading...

Sydney teacher charged after allegedly filming students’ private parts on phone

Posted on by

Guy Meogrossi, 30, faced court on charges of producing child abuse material and filming a person’s private parts without their consent

A teacher has been charged with producing child abuse material after he allegedly used his phone to make recordings of students at a school in Sydney’s south west.

Police were called to the school on Monday afternoon after reports of an incident that involved teacher using his phone to make recordings of students.

Continue reading...

‘I could see the steel flashing in his hand’: Greg Lynn made ‘quick decisions’ after campers’ deaths, murder trial hears

Posted on by

Former pilot, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay, told police the deaths were the result of an accident

A former airline pilot accused of murdering two elderly campers told police he went through a “decision making pathway” drawn from his experience in the cockpit when considering how to cover up their deaths.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay at a remote camping site in Victoria’s alpine region in March 2020.

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

Continue reading...

WA police formally apologise to family of Aboriginal woman who died in custody in 2014

Posted on by

Ms Dhu died two days after being locked up at police station after arrest for unpaid fines of $3,622

Western Australia’s police chief has formally apologised to the family and community of a 22-year-old Aboriginal woman who died in custody a decade ago.

Yamatji woman Ms Dhu, whose first name has not been used for cultural reasons, died two days after being locked up at South Hedland police station on 4 August 2014.

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

Continue reading...

Samantha Murphy: police end targeted search as they examine phone found in dam near Ballarat

Posted on by

Forensic assessments being carried out on ‘items of interest’ found in search for missing woman

Victoria police have ended their search of farmland south of Ballarat amid forensic testing of “items of interest”, after finding a phone at a dam during their investigation into missing woman Samantha Murphy.

Murphy, 51, was last seen nearly four months ago, when she left her Ballarat East home to go for a run on 4 February.

Continue reading...

Kumanjayi Walker inquest: NT police commissioner knew about racist awards last year, court told

Posted on by

Michael Murphy denies deliberately misleading public about knowledge of awards but regrets not investigating earlier, inquest hears

WARNING: This article contains offensive images and content

The Northern Territory’s top police officer has agreed he was “gaslighting” Aboriginal people when he said he had not seen racism in the force, and admitted he knew about racist award certificates months before their existence was made public.

The police commissioner, Michael Murphy, told the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker on Wednesday that he regretted not investigating the “coon of the year” certificates awarded within the force’s Territory Response Group or reporting them to the NT police professional standards command when he learned about them in August 2023.

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

Continue reading...

Fewer than 10% of sexual assaults reported to NSW police end in a conviction, report finds

Posted on by

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research study finds no legal action was taken in about 85% of reported sexual assault incidents

Only 8% of contemporary child sexual assault incidents reported to New South Wales police end in a conviction, according to a Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report released on Tuesday.

The number is lower for reported historic sexual assault incidents (7%) and lower again for reported adult sexual assault incidents (6%).

Continue reading...

Police deploy divers and dog in search for mother and baby after evidence of birth found on Sydney riverbank

Posted on by

Officers urge woman to go to hospital to receive care after placenta and umbilical cord found next to Cooks River at Earlwood

Police have deployed divers and a blood detection dog in the search for a mother and her newborn baby after finding evidence she may have given birth by a Sydney riverbank.

A resident walking his dog found what police believe to be a placenta and umbilical cord next to the Cooks River at Earlwood in the city’s south-west on Monday afternoon. Police said tests on the organs had revealed them to be human.

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

Continue reading...

Greg Lynn trial: cause of campers’ deaths unable to be determined due to ‘obliterated’ remains, court told

Posted on by

Former Jetstar pilot has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay in 2020

The cause of death for Russell Hill and Carol Clay was unable to be determined as their remains were found “obliterated” in Victoria’s alpine region, a forensic pathologist has told a double murder trial.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Hill and Clay at a remote camping site in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020. The supreme court trial entered its third week on Monday.

Continue reading...

Couldn’t ‘help myself’: Queensland police officer shares sexist post weeks after disciplinary action over social media use

Posted on by

Queensland police service says the incident is being assessed by the ethical standards command

A Queensland police officer has shared a sexist post on social media weeks after receiving “formal guidance” for engaging with lewd and offensive Facebook content.

Officer Brad Rix shared a public Instagram photo ahead of Mother’s Day on 12 May which read, “gentlemen don’t forget to remind the special lady in your life to make sure she gets all her housework and chores done on Saturday so she can enjoy mother’s day on Sunday”.

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

Continue reading...