Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Cleo Smith: Terence Darrell Kelly pleads guilty to abducting four-year-old from WA campsite

Posted on by

Kelly, 36, admits in court to taking child from a tent last year. Other charges have been adjourned to a later date

A man has pleaded guilty in court to abducting Cleo Smith from her family’s West Australian campsite, sparking a widespread search and attracting global attention.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, on Monday admitted taking the four-year-old from a tent at the remote Blowholes campsite last year.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Tasmania jumping castle accident: what we know so far

Posted on by

Five children in Australia are dead and another three are in critical condition after a bouncy castle was blown into the air in an incident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport

Five children are dead and another three are in critical condition after a jumping castle was blown into the air during an end-of-year celebration at a school in Tasmania’s north-west.

The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, is currently in Devonport and gave an update with the Tasmania police commissioner, Darren Hine, on Friday morning.

In Australia Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline 1800 551 800, mental health helpline 1800 333 288 and Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

Continue reading...

Tasmania jumping castle tragedy: child victims named as Devonport community mourns

Posted on by

Premier Peter Gutwein says the tragedy at Hillcrest primary school is beyond comprehension as police investigate bouncy castle accident and one child is released from hospital

Tasmanian police have released the names of the five children killed in Thursday’s tragic jumping castle accident in Devonport.

The five children who died are Addison Stewart, 11, Zane Mellor, 12, Jye Sheehan, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, 12, and Peter Dodt, 12.

Continue reading...

Cleo Smith’s alleged abductor Terence Darrell Kelly moved to maximum-security prison

Posted on by

Kelly, 36, transferred from Carnarvon to Perth in Western Australia after being charged with various offences including one count of taking a child under 16

The man charged with abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith will be transferred from Carnarvon to a maximum-security prison in Perth.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, appeared briefly before a magistrate in Carnarvon on Thursday charged with various offences related to the abduction of Cleo, including one count of forcibly taking a child under 16.

Continue reading...

Cleo Smith search: WA police examining ‘every inch’ of campsite for ‘disturbances in sand’

Posted on by

Officers also sifting through garbage collected from roadside bins near where four-year-old went missing

West Australian police are using drones and aircraft to create a detailed map of the Blowholes campsite as they look for “disturbances in the sand” during the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of four-year-old Cleo Smith.

Police recruits are also sifting through a mountain of rubbish collected from roadside bins stretching more than 600km along Western Australia’s north-west coast in the hope of finding any clue that could lead to Cleo.

Continue reading...

Queensland police seize Nazi flag flown near Brisbane synagogue

Posted on by

Swastika seen hanging from Margaret Street apartment complex in city’s CBD

Congregants at a Brisbane synagogue were confronted by the sight of a Nazi flag flying from a nearby apartment window on Saturday.

Visitors to the synagogue reported seeing the swastika symbol hanging from a UniLodge complex on Margaret Street in the central business district on Saturday morning, the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies vice-president, Jason Steinberg, said.

Continue reading...

‘It hurts and it’s wrong’: family of Aboriginal woman shot dead by WA police officer speak out after acquittal

Posted on by

Supporters of JC say 30 years after the Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commission there is still ‘no equality’

The family of a Geraldton woman shot dead by a Western Australian police officer has said there is “no equality” and “no justice” for Aboriginal people after the constable was acquitted of her murder on Friday.

“In terms of Aboriginal people, we don’t get no fairness, there’s no equality and this is evidence with what’s happened here,” Bernadette Clarke, the sister of the victim, known as JC for cultural reasons, said on the steps outside Perth’s district court.

Continue reading...

Queensland police refuse to remove traditional owners occupying Adani’s coalmine site

Posted on by

Miner says group is ‘trespassing’ but police have acknowledged their cultural rights under human rights act

Queensland police have told a group of First Nations people occupying the site of Adani’s Carmichael coalmine for the past five weeks that they have no intention of removing them from the area “at this time”.

The group of Wangan and Jagalingou traditional owners opposed to the coalmine project began an ongoing cultural ceremony within the boundary of Adani’s mining lease in late August.

Continue reading...

Arrest footage and teargas raise concerns about Victoria police’s use of force to quell protests

Posted on by

Video of a man being thrown to the ground by an officer at Melbourne’s Flinders St Station sparks internal investigation

The use of weapons like teargas and stinger grenades and vision of a man being thrown to the ground by a Victorian police officer at Flinders Street Station has raised concerns about police’s use of force during the ongoing protests in Melbourne this week.

On the fourth day of protests in the city, footage emerged online showing an officer approaching a man from behind and throwing him to the ground. The man appeared to be talking calmly to other officers at the time.

Continue reading...

Melbourne descends into chaos as police arrest 62 and fire rubber pellets at anti-lockdown protesters

Posted on by

It started with construction workers opposing compulsory vaccinations but grew into a broader ‘freedom’ rally which shut down freeways and bridges

Police have fired pepper balls and stinger grenades at violent anti-Covid lockdown protesters on the streets of Melbourne as Australia’s second-largest city – under stay-at-home orders for the 233rd day in total – descended into chaos.

Protesters dressed as construction workers clashed with police for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, assaulting officers, smashing police car windows, throwing bottles and stones, and damaging property.

Continue reading...

‘Despicable’: Sydney police stop Muslim mourners from watching funerals from cars

Posted on by

NSW police say people were in breach of public health orders as four men arrested at Rookwood cemetery

In Islam, it is essential that the dead are buried as soon as possible. The body is washed, prayed over, taken to the cemetery and buried, with some small prayer or invocation said by the grave.

It is usually a quick process, sometimes drawn out by lingering family, but one that can be shortened in times of difficulty, such as in a pandemic.

Continue reading...

‘Extraordinary’: Police fine dozens after church service in western Sydney Covid hotspot

Posted on by

More than 30 people were fined $1,000 each at the Blacktown Christ Embassy Sydney church gathering, just hours before stronger lockdown measures came into force

NSW police have issued 31 fines to people who attended an illegal Sunday night church service in Blacktown in the heart of Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak hotspots.

Police went to Christ Embassy Sydney church around 7.30pm on Sunday after being tipped off about a gathering in breach of public health orders.

Continue reading...

NSW police apologise for sending email with sensitive information to wrong person

Posted on by

Exclusive: Personal information about woman fined for lockdown breach emailed to man with same name as woman’s lawyer

When a sensitive email from New South Wales police landed in Richard McDonald’s inbox earlier this month, he could scarcely believe the irony.

The email, obviously not intended for him, contained confidential and personal information about a woman police had just fined for a Covid lockdown breach in questionable circumstances.

Continue reading...

Police say Melbourne anti-lockdown protest ‘most violent in nearly 20 years’

Posted on by

Saturday’s rally was the first time police used non-lethal weapons during a lockdown protest, with at least nine officers ending up in hospital

An anti-lockdown protest held in Melbourne on Saturday was one of the most violent the city has seen in 20 years, Victoria’s top police officer says.

Chief commissioner Shane Patton said his officers had no choice but to use non-lethal weapons to defend themselves from an angry mob that came armed and appeared intent on attacking them.

Continue reading...

Police deny knowing of plan to let armed group commit crime, Victorian inquest into robber’s death hears

Posted on by

Court hears Troy Van Den Bemt was shot dead at a bottle shop by an undercover officer who was monitoring him

Undercover police officers tailing a group of suspected armed robbers deny they knew of a plan to allow the men to commit a crime if they could not be safely arrested first, the Victorian coroner’s court has heard.

Coroner Jacqui Hawkins is holding an inquest into the death of Troy Van Den Bemt, who was killed in 2018 by an officer who had been monitoring the armed robber and his associates as part of an operation in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live update: some children aged 12 to 15 eligible for vaccine; NSW confirms 207 cases and 15th death; Qld records 13 cases and extends lockdown

Posted on by

NSW records 15th death; Queensland announces business support package as it extends lockdown in 11 LGAs until Sunday; South Australia restrictions eased; Victoria records two local cases; 300 ADF troops start patrolling in Sydney. Follow latest updates

David Gillespie has been seen in the parliament – so Christian Porter has been chosen to be the acting leader of the house, ahead of Gillespie who is the deputy leader of the house.

Barnaby Joyce will be holding a press conference in 15 minutes to talk extended support for the aviation industry.

Continue reading...

Protestor who allegedly punched police horse at Sydney rally refuses Covid test in custody, court told

Posted on by

Kristian Pulkownik, 33, is yet to formally apply for bail after he was arrested on Saturday following a so-called freedom march

An alleged Sydney anti-lockdown protester accused of punching a police horse called Tobruk will remain behind bars after refusing a Covid test that was a prerequiste for him to appear in court.

Kristian Pulkownik, 33, is yet to formally apply for bail after he was arrested on Saturday following a march in Sydney’s city centre where thousands of people defied coronavirus restrictions to attend.

Continue reading...

Buck naked: nude sunbathers fleeing deer fined for breaking Sydney lockdown

Posted on by

Police fined two men $1,000 each after helicopter and rescue crew sent to help the pair who became lost in bushland after wildlife encounter

New South Wales police have fined two men for breaching coronavirus restrictions after they were startled by a deer while sunbaking naked on a beach south of Sydney and ran into the bush, becoming lost and needing to be rescued.

Police sent a helicopter to search for the pair, who were fined $1,000 for breaching public health orders amid a coronavirus outbreak that has seen residents in greater Sydney locked down and banned from travelling outside their local area.

Continue reading...

NSW toughens Covid rules for airport transport workers as police seek advice on Sydney limo driver

Posted on by

NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller says he’s received ‘mixed messages’ about whether Bondi limousine driver broke rules

Drivers in New South Wales transporting international passengers and aircrew will now be required to be vaccinated against Covid and wear a mask.

The new rules were introduced after there was confusion over whether the driver at the centre of the Bondi outbreak, who was not vaccinated and did not wear a mask, had breached the law.

Continue reading...