Category Archives: Australian police and policing

NSW police say analysis shows pro-Palestine chant in viral Sydney Opera House video was ‘where’s the Jews?’

Posted on by

Independent expert says with ‘overwhelming certainty’ the phrase was not ‘gas the Jews’, as was widely reported around the world

New South Wales police say an independent investigation has found no evidence pro-Palestine protestors used the offensive phrase “gas the Jews” during a march near Sydney’s Opera House two days after the 7 October attacks on Israel.

The investigation by an “eminent expert” from the National Centre of Biometric Science examined a compilation video containing a number of audio and visual files.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

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

Continue reading...

War crime accused seeks bail change to fly across Australia

Posted on by

Oliver Jordan Schulz, who is accused of murder over the shooting of a young Afghan, applied for his bail conditions to be loosened

A former SAS soldier and accused war criminal requires assessment by police checking in on him while on bail because his military training presents a physical danger, a court has heard.

Oliver Jordan Schulz, 42, is expected to be able to fly to Perth to visit his lawyers after a bail variation hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Monday.

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

Continue reading...

NSW premier warns ‘pathetic’ neo-Nazis they will be exposed after attempted rally in Sydney park

Posted on by

Gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men at Artarmon Reserve follows confrontation with police resulting in six arrests on Friday

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has doubled down on his push to tighten anti-vilification laws after a group of neo-Nazis attempted to hold another rally in a public park on Sunday morning.

Police responded to the gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men who gathered at Artarmon Reserve at 9am on Sunday.

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

Continue reading...

Queensland police launch internal investigation after officers fatally shoot man during ‘mental health incident’

Posted on by

Man declared dead at the scene in Mount Louisa on Sunday, with ethical standards command to investigate the death

Queensland police have launched an internal investigation after a man was shot and killed by officers during a “mental health incident” in suburban Townsville.

In a statement, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) claimed the man was armed with a knife and had “threatened” officers who had been called to attend a home at Mount Louisa just after midnight on Sunday. Police officers arrived at the scene an hour later.

Continue reading...

Albanese condemns actions of balaclava-clad neo-Nazis arrested by police after swarming Sydney train

Posted on by

Six members of the neo-Nazi group were arrested after dozens of men wearing black hoods and brandishing Australian flags were stopped at North Sydney station

Anthony Albanese has condemned the actions of a group of neo-Nazis, who wore black balaclavas while brandishing Australian flags when they swarmed a Sydney train on Friday, as “shocking” and having “no role in Australia”

The group of about 60 hooded men were seen at Artarmon station just before midday on Friday.

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

Continue reading...

Cairns watch house worker sounds alarm over ‘massive deterioration’ in children’s physical and mental health

Posted on by

Exclusive: anonymised notes reveal concerns about injuries, self-harm, security incidents and sickness in overcrowded cells

A child locked in the Cairns police watch house is self-harming by banging his head against the cell walls.

Anonymised notes about more than a dozen children in the far north Queensland watch house last week, seen by Guardian Australia, detail concerns about sickness spreading in the overcrowded cells, injuries and serious security incidents.

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

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

Continue reading...

Psychologist treating children in Cairns watch house warns of ‘horrendous’ and ‘inhumane’ conditions

Posted on by

Exclusive: Government is failing to meet basic needs of youth in Queensland lockup, putting staff at ‘risk of harm’, psychologist alleges

A senior psychologist treating children in the Cairns police watch house sent a “cry for help” letter detailing “horrendous” conditions and alleged human rights abuses in the lockup, including claims young people are not being provided adequate food, medical attention or legal support.

The letter, seen by Guardian Australia, was sent to senior Queensland officials and several others on Monday by Andrea Bates, a psychologist with the Cairns court liaison service.

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

Continue reading...

NSW police fail to deliver mental health crisis review amid scrutiny over latest shooting death

Posted on by

Exclusive: Review ordered by police commissioner Karen Webb after string of fatalities last year is more than two months overdue

New South Wales police have failed to hand a promised review of the way they respond to mental health crises to the government, as pressure again mounts on the force to enact reforms after the fatal shooting of a mentally unwell man.

Alexander Stuart Pinnock died on Wednesday after being shot at by multiple officers outside a medical clinic in Nowra on the south coast following an almost two-hour standoff that began when the 34-year-old pulled out a gun, police said.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

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

Continue reading...

Queensland police integrity unit ‘unlikely’ to be established by recommended deadline

Posted on by

Exclusive: timeline for creation of body to end practice of police investigating police in doubt as state government mulls options

A critical recommendation to stop police investigating police is “unlikely” to be fulfilled by the 18-month deadline set out by an inquiry that heard evidence of racism, sexism and misogyny within the Queensland police service.

The commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence in 2022 unearthed shocking evidence including that QPS’s “broken” internal complaints system allowed discrimination to go unchecked.

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

Continue reading...

News live: NSW issues Covid warning with cases at 12-month high; PM has ‘imperfect’ advice that no Australians caught in PNG violence

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese says no requests for aid or reports of any Australians there caught up in Port Moreseby unrest. Follow the day’s news live

Government fences off Rozelle Parklands after asbestos discovery

As Catie McLeod reported yesterday, the finding of some asbestos in playground mulch in new parklands in Sydney’s Rozelle triggered a closure of those areas just a couple of weeks after they had been opened:

Continue reading...

Wieambilla shootings inspired ‘true threats’ against public figures by accused US man, court hears

Posted on by

Donald Day Jr made serious threats to kill others after allegedly encouraging deadly Queensland shootings, prosecutors say

An American conspiracy theorist arrested in connection to religiously motivated shootings by an Australian family in Queensland later used the killings to bolster his alleged threats against public figures, United States prosecutors have said.

Donald Day Jr, 58, was arrested in December 2023 by the FBI in Arizona on two counts of “interstate threats” following the December 2022 fatal shootings in Wieambilla, Queensland.

Continue reading...

Sydney police uncover alleged plot to kill OneFour rap group members

Posted on by

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.

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Australian police renew search for wanted man in Greece before statute of limitations runs out

Posted on by

James Dalamangas was allegedly involved in the death of George Giannopoulos in a Sydney nightclub in 1999

Australian police are issuing a global plea to locate one of the country’s most wanted men who they say fled to Greece after allegedly stabbing a man to death in a Sydney nightclub 25 years ago.

James Dalamangas is wanted over his alleged involvement in the murder of George Giannopoulos in Belmore, in Sydney’s south-west, in April 1999.

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

Continue reading...

ACT police take aim at ‘moron tourism’ for bad behaviour at Summernats

Posted on by

Senior officer says ‘pest’ drivers and not ‘real’ car enthusiasts were causing problems during festival in Canberra

A group of “morons” who would fail to enter the ACT if there were IQ requirements at the border are to blame for bad behaviour at one of Australia’s premier car festivals, a senior police officer has said.

ACT Policing seized 13 cars, including a Holden Commodore for doing a burnout metres from pedestrians, during this year’s Summernats festival in Canberra.

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

Continue reading...

Man sues Victorian police after being shot in leg during routine response to noise complaint

Posted on by

Andrew Wilczewski, 50, was shot in his yard in 2020 while holding a shovel, after an officer scaled his fence

A man who was shot in the leg by a junior police officer during a routine response to a noise complaint has sued Victoria police for compensation.

Andrew Wilczewski, 50, was shot in his back yard while holding a shovel, allegedly “fearing for his safety”, after an officer scaled his back fence and started banging on windows.

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

Continue reading...

Rubbish bin and rocks used in attack on mobile speed camera in Melbourne that injured operator

Posted on by

Police say group jumped on the car in Coburg and shattered windows in what union calls ‘horrific planned assault’

A mobile speed camera operator has been injured after his car was attacked by five men in a Melbourne street.

The blue SUV, fixed with traffic cameras in its rear window, was operating on Nicholson Street at Coburg in the early hours of Friday morning when it was attacked.

Continue reading...