Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Teen fighting for life and another injured after Melbourne street fight shooting

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Detectives believe the boys, aged 15 and 17, were shot in a targeted attack during a Collingwood brawl involving up to 50 youths

Two teens are lucky to be alive after a targeted shooting during a street fight that embroiled dozens of youths, police say.

A 17-year-old boy is fighting for his life in hospital while a 15-year-old has been hospitalised with serious injuries after both were found with gun shot wounds on Vere Street in Collingwood, inner Melbourne, about 1am on Friday.

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Sydney man arrested over Newtown synagogue fire

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Adam Edward Moule is ninth person charged under Strike Force Pearl investigation into spate of antisemitic attacks across Sydney

The arrest of a man who allegedly attempted to set a synagogue on fire in Sydney’s inner west this month is a “big breakthrough”, the New South Wales premier has said, as investigations continue into a spate of antisemitic vandalism in the city.

Adam Edward Moule, 33, had his case briefly mentioned at Downing Centre local court on Wednesday and was scheduled to appear again on Thursday before the same court.

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Counter-terrorism police take up investigation of swastika attack at Sydney synagogue

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Vandals also started a fire in Newtown that could have had deadly consequences, commissioner says

Counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation of a swastika vandalism attack at a Sydney synagogue as the police commissioner and premier call on the public to help catch the perpetrators.

Jewish leaders condemned the latest antisemitic attack, in which red swastikas were spray-painted across the front wall of Newtown synagogue in Sydney’s inner west by a male and female about 4.30am on Saturday.

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Victorian police officer who allegedly performed Nazi salutes won’t be charged with making banned gesture

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Sergeant was suspended and commissioner apologised after gesture was allegedly made at police academy on consecutive days

A police sergeant who allegedly performed two Nazi salutes in front of colleagues at the police academy will not be charged despite the gesture being banned in Victoria, the force says.

The 65-year-old woman, who has been in the force for 40 years, was suspended with pay last October, after police launched a criminal investigation into the two incidents in which she allegedly approached other employees, performed the salute and said “Heil Hitler”.

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Number of children under 14 in adult watch houses in Queensland rises 50% in 12 months

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Report to parliament states watch houses are an ‘inadequate place to keep young people overnight’ and are ‘harmful and traumatising’

The number of children aged 13 or under in Queensland’s adult watch houses has increased by 50% in 12 months, according to new statistics.

The statistics – which were included in a paper tabled by the Office of the Public Guardian in Queensland parliament on Tuesday – showed 120 children aged between 10 and 13 spent at least one night in a police watch house in 2023–24.

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Invasion Day marcher stripped of $800,000 compensation as police duty of care ruling overturned

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Laura Cullen was among 5,000 people at a 2017 Sydney protest when she was knocked down and injured as NSW police tried to arrest a man

A landmark legal ruling that set out the duty of care New South Wales police owe people attending protests has been overturned on appeal, stripping an Invasion Day marcher of an $800,000 compensation claim and forcing her to repay $103,00 in legal costs.

The NSW court of appeal handed down the decision shortly before Christmas, overturning an earlier ruling that found police had a duty of care to a woman who attended a protest where she was a bystander to an arrest, and who was knocked down and injured during the arrest.

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Man arrested over alleged 1997 murder of Meaghan Rose on Sunshine Coast denied bail

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Keith Lees, 72, evaded warrant for almost 18 months in relation to alleged murder, and is accused of trying to bite police

A man is behind bars and will likely face extradition after his arrest over a woman’s alleged murder more than two decades ago.

Keith Lees, 72, remains in custody after spending about 18 months evading an arrest warrant over the death of his former partner, 25-year-old Meaghan Louise Rose, who was discovered at the base of Point Cartwright Cliffs on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 1997.

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‘Unimaginable tragedy’ for central Victorian community as three-year-old boy found dead after caravan fire

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Police continue investigation into child’s body found after firefighters put out blaze in Boort

A regional community is mourning an “unimaginable tragedy” after a three-year-old boy was found dead following a caravan fire.

Emergency services were called to Lake View Street in Boort, north-central Victoria, at about 5.50pm on Thursday after reports a caravan had caught fire.

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Brothers wanted over alleged Queensland shooting murder of Chloe Mason believed to be camping in NSW

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Warrants for the arrest of Codye Thomson and Kaine Thomson-Gleeson have been issued over the killing of 23-year-old in Caboolture

Two brothers wanted for an alleged shooting murder north of Brisbane last month are now on the run after they were released after being questioned last month, according to Queensland police.

Police named 29-year-old Codye Thomson and 32-year-old Kaine Thomson-Gleeson as wanted for the alleged offence, on Friday.

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Man shot dead by police in NSW hospital car park after allegedly aiming gun at officers

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Man believed to be in his 30s fatally shot by officers outside Manning hospital in Taree on the mid-north coast

A man has been shot dead in a hospital car park after allegedly aiming a gun at police.

Police arrived at Manning hospital in Taree on the New South Wales mid-north coast just before 1pm on Thursday after reports a man had fired shots into the air at a home several kilometres away.

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Richmond Tigers player Noah Balta charged with assault after incident in country NSW

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Footballer who signed a seven-year AFL deal in October has been charged after 30 December incident in Riverina town of Mulwala

Richmond Tigers star Noah Balta has been charged with assault after an incident in country New South Wales.

The AFL club has released a brief statement to confirm a media report that the defender had been charged.

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Police praise mostly well-behaved NYE revellers despite firework-related blazes

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Melbourne and Sydney fires brought under control, including in Tempe, and stabbings reported in Guildford and the Mornington Peninsula

New Year’s Eve revellers have largely been praised for their behaviour at Australia’s biggest fireworks shows, while officers were kept busy with outbursts of trouble around local fireworks.

More than a million people swarmed the main vantage points around Sydney harbour and hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular.

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Man charged after alleged bungled Sydney ambush led to chase and shots fired at police car

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Police rushed to Edensor Park after two armed men were allegedly seen trying to break into a home

A man has been charged after an alleged bungled shooting resulted in a high-speed chase through south-west Sydney.

Police had attended a home in Edensor Park about 1.30am on Tuesday after two men armed with guns were allegedly seen trying to break into a property, before leaving in a Hyundai sedan.

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Man dies after Sydney arrest for allegedly attempting to enter vehicles armed with knife

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Critical incident team from Bankstown Police Area Command to investigate circumstances surrounding 33-year-old’s death

A man has died after he was arrested while allegedly attempting to enter vehicles armed with a knife in the middle of Sydney traffic.

Police declared a critical incident after officers responded to reports of a man trying to stop traffic and enter vehicles on Remembrance Driveway at Tahmoor in Sydney’s south-west at about 1pm on Friday.

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Melbourne stabbing: Man arrested after woman found dead at Langwarrin home on Boxing Day

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Homicide squad detectives investigating after 59-year-old found dead at Wood Duck Court in Langwarrin

Police have arrested a 63-year-old man in relation to the death of a woman in Langwarrin in Melbourne’s south-east.

The 59-year-old woman was found about 6:30am on Boxing Day, after emergency services responded to reports that a woman had been stabbed at an address at Wood Duck Court.

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Two Australian teens convicted under counter-terrorism laws as AFP and Asio warn of ‘early signs of radicalisation’

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Agencies urge parents, teachers and healthcare workers to be vigilant, paying particular attention to gaming sites and messaging platforms

Asio and the AFP have revealed that two Australian teenagers, 16 and 14, have been convicted under the country’s counter-terrorism laws.

The anonymised details of the two unrelated cases were published as part of an unprecedented coordinated plea from security agencies in the Five Eyes countries – Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand – for their citizens to do more to stop young people falling prey to radical, violent ideologies.

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Uniformed NSW police again face Sydney Mardi Gras ban

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Officers could be barred from marching in 2025 over concerns force hasn’t improved relations with LGBTQ+ community

New South Wales police are facing a ban from the upcoming Mardi Gras parade over concerns about the force’s relationship with the queer community.

At the event’s annual general meeting on Saturday, members will vote on three resolutions on police participation in the parade after uniformed officers were banned from joining the 2024 march.

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More than 90% of people caught with small amounts of illicit drugs criminalised in NSW despite diversion reforms

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Exclusive: Police used discretion to divert just 6.9% of people caught with personal use quantities of drugs from criminal justice system, data shows

A New South Wales government program that gives police discretion to divert people found with small quantities of illicit drugs away from the courts has only been extended to 6.9% of people caught, including just 2.6% of those who are Indigenous.

The major reform by the Minns government came into effect in February this year and was flagged by the attorney general, Michael Daley, as a way to treat drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal one. Yet data obtained from NSW police under freedom of information shows the vast majority of those caught with illegal drugs continue to be criminalised.

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Family ‘devastated’ after two found dead in ‘confronting scene’ in Sydney’s west

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Bodies discovered on Saturday morning after police were called to shop on Oxford Street in Cambridge Park following reports of an assault

New South Wales police are appealing for information after two people were found dead with “significant injuries” in Sydney’s west on Saturday morning.

Officers were called to a shop on Oxford Street in Cambridge Park, near Penrith, after reports of an assault at about 9.40am.

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Kristian White ‘entirely devastated’ as Clare Nowland’s family ‘struggling to understand’ why police officer granted bail

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NSW police officer who fatally shot 95-year-old with Taser extends ‘thoughts and prayers’ to Nowland family after manslaughter verdict

The New South Wales policeman who fatally shot a 95-year-old great-grandmother with a Taser has said he never intended for her to be harmed, and remains “entirely devastated” for her family’s loss.

Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White shot Clare Nowland with his Taser in a Cooma nursing home in the early hours of 17 May 2023, after she refused to put down a sharp knife. Nowland fell and struck her head, dying a week later from inoperable bleeding on the brain.

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