Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Abandoned van found in search for missing German backpacker Carolina Wilga in remote WA

Posted on by

The 26-year-old has not been seen or heard from since visiting a general store in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region

Police searching for German backpacker Carolina Wilga, who is missing in a remote part of Western Australia, have found an abandoned van believed to have mechanical issues.

The 26-year-old has not been seen or heard from since she visited a general store in the small town of Beacon, in WA’s north-east Wheatbelt region, on 29 June.

Continue reading...

Queensland police charged woman with driving offences while she was fleeing domestic violence

Posted on by

Magistrate throws out case against woman, saying she had been trying to escape an ‘extraordinary emergency’

A Queensland court has thrown out the police case against a woman who was charged with driving offences while fleeing domestic violence with her dog.

The Gympie magistrates court accepted the unchallenged evidence of the woman – referred to as ESC – that she drove while disqualified after her violent partner threatened to kill her dog.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

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...

‘No empty words’: Kumanjayi Walker’s family prepare for coroner’s final report with call for ‘real action’

Posted on by

Findings will be handed down almost five years after the Warlpiri man died during a bungled arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The inquest findings into the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker will be handed down in Yuendumu on Monday, almost five years after the Warlpiri man died during a bungled arrest in the remote Northern Territory community.

Zachary Rolfe shot Walker three times while trying to arrest him on 9 November 2019 in Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Bodies of two men in dilapidated Sydney house could have been undiscovered by housemate for weeks

Posted on by

Landlord made welfare concern call about one tenant – but when police arrived they found two bodies

The decomposing bodies of two men found inside a dilapidated terrace on a busy inner Sydney street could have gone undiscovered by their roommate for several weeks, police have said.

On Thursday afternoon, Eleanor Barker, 63, made a welfare concern call to police about one of her tenants. She has owned and lived at the Cleveland Street property in Surry Hills since the 1980s, and rented it out to the two men for at least a decade.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Lawyers investigate whether Hannah Thomas could sue police over alleged excessive use of force at Sydney protest

Posted on by

Critical incident investigation declared into arrest of former Greens candidate who says she could lose sight in right eye

Lawyers are investigating whether protesters could sue New South Wales police over alleged excessive use of force during a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney, after which the former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas said she could lose sight in her right eye.

Thomas, 35, who ran against the prime minister at the federal election, was arrested at the Belmore protest which was attended by about 60 people on Friday. She was subsequently taken to hospital and underwent surgery.

Continue reading...

Greens call for investigation into NSW police arrest that injured former candidate

Posted on by

Sue Higginson demands critical incident be declared after Hannah Thomas taken for surgery, but acting police minister says matter does not ‘meet the threshold’

A Greens MP has called for an independent investigation into New South Wales police arrests at a protest that resulted in a former Greens candidate being taken to hospital with serious facial injuries.

Sue Higginson says a critical incident should be declared after Hannah Thomas, who ran against Anthony Albanese in the Sydney electorate of Grayndler, sustained facial injuries during arrest at a protest on Friday. The protest was outside a business in Belmore accused of “supplying electroplating and surface coating services for a variety of applications including aerospace and defence technology” to Israel.

Continue reading...

Teenage boy charged with murder after allegedly stabbing man during Brisbane house party

Posted on by

Boy, 15, charged with one count of murder after alleged stabbing of 58-year-old at Clayfield home on Thursday

Distressed teenagers are being spoken to by police after a man’s fatal stabbing at a Brisbane house party packed with dozens of young people.

Police have charged a 15-year-old boy with murder after the 58-year-old’s body was found inside a large home in the upmarket inner-city suburb of Clayfield on Thursday night.

Continue reading...

Queensland MP calls for return of vagrancy laws to allow police to prosecute homeless people

Posted on by

LNP member for Mermaid Beach says absence of legislative power to remove tents set up in his electorate is ‘unacceptable’

A Gold Coast Liberal National party MP has called for the return of vagrancy laws to allow police to prosecute homeless people amid an ongoing crackdown on tent cities in Queensland.

Ray Stevens, the member for Mermaid Beach, made the call in a speech to parliament last week.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Police hunt masked gunmen who shot three people at Sydney kebab shop in ‘brazen’ daylight attack

Posted on by

One of three victims of ‘horrifying’ shooting in Auburn has had two previous attempts made on his life, NSW police say

A man shot in a “shockingly brazen” daylight attack in south-west Sydney, which wounded two other people, has had two previous attempts made on his life.

The acting New South Wales police commissioner, Peter Thurtell, said it was “beyond comprehension” three people could be gunned down in Sydney in daylight.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Tasmanian police officer shot dead at rural property during court-issued attempt to repossess house

Posted on by

Officer was attending the property to execute a warrant and was shot as he approached the house, police allege

A “devastated” family is in mourning and an alleged offender is in custody after a senior Tasmanian police officer died in a shooting in the state’s north-west.

The police commissioner, Donna Adams, said officers attended a residential property on Allison Road in North Motton at about 11am on Monday to execute a court-issued warrant to repossess the residence. They alleged the occupant of the home fatally shot a 57-year-old male officer as they approached the front of the house.

Continue reading...

Heartbroken mother tells inquest she’s ‘lost her way’ after ‘stuff of nightmares’ murders at Bondi Junction

Posted on by

Elizabeth Young, who is mourning her ‘slightly goofy’ daughter Jade, gives emotional evidence that 2024 attack was due to ‘cumulative failures’

The mother of Jade Young, a victim of the Bondi Junction stabbings, has described her daughter’s murder as the “stuff of nightmares” and the result of “years of neglect” within the mental health system.

Elizabeth Young told the New South Wales coroner’s court on Thursday that her words were “both a distillation and a manifestation of anguish”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Cauchi at ‘significant’ risk of relapsing into psychosis when discharged into doctor’s care, Bondi Junction inquest hears

Posted on by

Joel Cauchi suffered deterioration in ‘performance IQ’ and some cognitive functions leading up to attack, expert tells Sydney coroner’s court

Joel Cauchi’s psychiatrist of eight years discharged him into the care of his doctor at a time when he was at “significant risk” of relapsing into psychosis, an expert has said amid a probe into the mental health and care of Cauchi.

On Thursday, the coronial inquest examining the fatal stabbing of six people by Cauchi at Westfield Bondi Junction in April 2024 heard from a panel of psychiatrists who provided expert opinions on Cauchi’s treatment.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Bradfield goes to automatic recount after independent defeats Liberal candidate by 40 votes

Posted on by

Nicolette Boele declared provisional winner over Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian. Follow today’s news live

Flood watches in place for rivers in Hunter and mid-north coast

Due to the prolonged period of wet weather for New South Wales – with rain expected to fall across the same regions for several days in a row – flood watches are in place for many rivers through the Hunter and the mid-north coast districts, where minor to moderate flooding is anticipated throughout the week, Hines says.

… and we can’t rule out the chance that one or two of them could see major flooding in the coming days.

Continue reading...

Security guard’s Bondi Junction triple-zero call could have confused police, inquest hears

Posted on by

Counter-terrorism expert tells inquest into 2024 stabbing attack by Joel Cauchi guard ‘talks about shots being fired with an armed offender’ in triple-zero call

A triple-zero call made by a security control room operator on duty at Westfield Bondi Junction was made too late and was so unclear it risked confusing police into thinking there was another attacker armed with a gun still at large inside the shopping centre, a counter-terrorism expert has said.

The security officer, who cannot be named, had left the control room for a toilet break when Joel Cauchi, 40, launched his stabbing attack that killed six people and injured 10 others at the Sydney shopping centre in April 2024.

Continue reading...

Judge suggests NSW police had ‘absolutely no evidence’ to justify main strip-search in class action

Posted on by

Justice Dina Yehia says manner force conducted its defence ‘is a matter, I’ll be quite honest with you, of grave concern to me’

A Sydney judge says the way the New South Wales police force defended a claim it unlawfully strip-searched a woman at a music festival – including a last-minute admission – was “of grave concern to me”.

Justice Dina Yehia made the comment in the NSW supreme court during closing arguments in a class action against the police.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Five arrests after more than a tonne of cocaine allegedly found on motorboat off NSW coast

Posted on by

The 1,110 blocks of cocaine on board are worth more than half a billion dollars on the street, police said

More than a tonne of cocaine has been seized off the east coast of Australia and five men arrested after police raided a suspicious motorboat.

Detectives said they were tipped off about the purchase of a 13-metre-long boat with a large sum of cash in Sydney’s Sutherland shire on 28 April.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

NSW woman faces court after being charged with murder of two grandsons

Posted on by

The 66-year-old appeared at Parramatta court on Saturday after being charged with murdering her grandsons aged six and seven

Two young boys might have been murdered hours before officers were called to their semi-rural home and found their bodies in separate bedrooms, police allege.

Details of the boys’ deaths, which have shocked the small community of Coonabarabran in north-west NSW, were revealed as their grandmother and accused killer appeared in court for the first time.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Man arrested after body found in Sydney home, police say

Posted on by

Investigators believe the deceased man, 65, who was found at a Homebush West property, and the arrested man, 31, were known to each other

A man has been charged with murder after the body of an older man was found in a suburban granny flat.

Investigators are still trying to work out the relationship between the pair.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Karen Webb to resign after three years as NSW police commissioner

Posted on by

State’s top cop – who was first woman to hold position in NSW history – expected to step down on 30 September

New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb will resign after three years in the role.

The NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, told NSW parliament on Wednesday that Webb had recently indicated she would retire by the end of the year and will leave the job on 30 September.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Bondi Junction killer missed out on mental health care because police lacked resources and were ‘overwhelmed’

Posted on by

Queensland mental health specialist reveals she couldn’t find someone to cover her role while giving evidence at Sydney inquest this week

A Queensland police officer has told a coronial inquest that a lack of resources explains why her colleague overlooked an email requesting mental health support for Joel Cauchi a year before he stabbed six people to death in Sydney’s Bondi Junction.

The inquest on Monday heard from her colleague, Sen Const Peter McDiarmid, who was acting as the police force’s only mental health officer for a district serving 220,000 residents when he received an email from another officer asking him to follow up with the Cauchi family. But the court heard he did not make contact.

Continue reading...