Category Archives: headline

Regional Victorians celebrate freedom

2021-06-04 FreeNews

Many residents in regional Victoria celebrated their first night out of lockdown by dining out yesterday.

The Hotel Shamrock in Bendigo had rigorous checks in place to ensure no restaurant patrons were visiting from Melbourne, which remains in lockdown.

People had ID's checked by staff and were given stickers to show they had been appropriately checked-in to the venue before being allowed inside the restaurant area.

https://twitter.com/9NewsMelb/status/1400728411627196417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Some restrictions are still in place with density limits restricting the number of diners and people were seen wearing masks as they made their way to their tables.

The freedom for those in regional cities has received a mix responses, with some businesses saying it's harder to remain open with the restrictions still in place than it is to be closed.

Mynette Richardson told 9News caps on patrons makes it impossible for her to produce a profit, leaving her to once again dip into her personal savings, while her staff at Cafe Essence are insisting they work for free.

"It is damn hard when you watch everything you work for just goes down the gurgler," Ms Richardson said.

While regional Victoria came out of lockdown at midnight on Friday June 4, their counterparts in Melbourne will spend another weekend indoors.

The snap-lockdown was extended another seven days across the city in hopes of containing the growing number of cases.

It comes as the state recorded another four new cases of community transmission – include three family members linked to the West Melbourne outbreak, infected with the Delta variant.

The second highly infectious COVID-19 variant, dubbed Delta or B1617.2, is the same highly transmissible strain that has ravaged India and spread in the UK.

The strain was detected through genomic sequencing on two of the cases linked to the West Melbourne cluster but is unrelated to all other cases thus far.

"The fact that it is a variant different to other cases it means it is not related, in terms of transmission, with these cases," Victoria's Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said.

"It has not been linked to any sequence cases across Australia from hotel quarantine or anywhere else that it is not linked in Victoria or any other jurisdiction."

Two parents and a child, who are among the four new local coronavirus cases, are infected with the strain.

The working theory is the child, who is a Grade Five student, caught the virus from another Grade Five student at North Melbourne Primary School, whose family had recently returned from Jervis Bay in New South Wales on May 24.

There are now seven infections linked to the cluster.

Professor Sutton said Victorian health authorities were working with their NSW and ACT counterparts to determine where the strain had been acquired from.

Melbourne

Victoria's COVID-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar said he believes all primary contacts of the recent Delta variant cases were in quarantine with over 300 primary close contacts connected to North Melbourne Primary School now isolating.

Australia's Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said the Melbourne case of the Delta variant isn't the first in Australia.

It was also identified in a Sydney man who tested positive early last month, but noted the genomic sequence was different to the new cases in Victoria.

https://twitter.com/Brett_McLeod/status/1400661653809623045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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Belize Mystery: The Wealthy Socialite & the Dead Cop

2021-06-04 FreeNews

Luke Harding

Guardian– A late-night stroll in the moonlight, then a sudden and fatal gunshot. What exactly happened between the socialite partner of the son of a billionaire Tory donor and a senior police officer in the early hours of last Friday in the resort of Mata Rocks has gripped the small Caribbean nation of Belize and turned into an international drama. It is now a major test for the country’s legal and criminal system.

This week a 32-year-old Canadian woman, Jasmine Hartin, was accused of the negligent manslaughter of a local police superintendent, Henry Jemmott. The case has attracted attention because Hartin is the partner of Andrew Ashcroft, son of Michael Ashcroft, the Conservative party donor and Belize’s most influential resident. Lord Ashcroft is a former Tory party deputy chairman, a one-time member of the House of Lords, and a billionaire.

Hartin is currently in Belize’s central jail awaiting a bail hearing next week. According to police, she met Jemmott in Ambergris Caye, Belize’s most northerly point, known for its beaches, coral reef and snorkelling. Hartin had earlier been at a party with Andrew Ashcroft in the town of San Pedro. Afterwards she went for a stroll with Jemmott, who was off duty.

The pair sat together on the end of a pier. Jemmott allegedly showed her his Glock service pistol. When she passed it back to him it accidentally went off, she told police, shooting Jemmott in the back of the head. The officer – a large man, 1.82 metres (6ft) tall, weighing more than 135kg (300lb) – rolled into the sea, dead. Hartin, who said she had been giving him a massage, was found distraught and covered in blood.

She was taken to the San Pedro jail and then transferred on Tuesday to the main prison. Her defence attorney, Godfrey Smith, a former foreign minister of Belize, has applied for bail. Prosecutors have objected, suggesting Hartin is a flight risk. During a hearing on Wednesday the judge in the case, Justice Herbert Lord, expressed his disapproval of the frenzied tabloid coverage. A further hearing is scheduled for 9 June.

Friends and relatives have described Jemmott as a tough and ambitious officer, who made his reputation cleaning up the drug-ridden Southside neighbourhood of Belize City. He was a father of six, a keen drummer and a likely future police commissioner, they said. “My brother loved life. He has a passion for his work. He loved his family as well. My brother loved people,” his sister Marie told 7 News, a local TV station.

Henry Jemmott was a father of six, a keen drummer and seen as a likely future police commissioner. Photograph: Facebook

Belize’s police commissioner, Chester Williams, said: “Personally I knew Mr Jemmott very well. We clashed at times but at the end of the day we both have the best interest of this department at heart. Mr Jemmott was one of those persons who really and truly challenged me. And that was his style – ambitious, assertive, but also a devoted family man.”

Williams has reportedly insisted Hartin will get no special favours. She could face up to five years in jail if convicted. But she could also receive a £7,000 fine, similar to the punishment meted out to drink-drivers. Discontent over the way the police have handled the investigation has bubbled up on social media. Locals have noted Hartin’s wealth and connections, and that she is white and her alleged victim was black.

The question now is whether justice can be dispassionately delivered, given Lord Ashcroft’s larger-than-life status in the one-time British colony, which won independence in 1981, to the displeasure of next-door Guatemala. Ashcroft is a joint UK and Belize national. He has made no comment. Instead, this week he has been promoting on Twitter his latest book, Red Knight, an unauthorised biography of the Labour leader, Keir Starmer.

Ashcroft is the owner of a bank in Belize. He played a key role in turning the country into an offshore financial centre – or what critics say is a tax haven. As in the UK, Ashcroft has involved himself in the politics of Belize, home to 440,000 people, many of them poor. Ashcroft has previously served as the country’s ambassador to the UN. He has a colonial-style home in Belize City.

He is intimately connected with the country’s politicians. He has at times clashed with them and funded them as well. In 2009 the then prime minister, Dean Barrow, said Ashcroft’s prolific business interests had “subjugated an entire nation”, following a row over the nationalisation of Belize’s telecoms company, which Ashcroft used to own. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing.

Barrow declared: “Lord Michael Ashcroft is an extremely powerful man. His net worth may well be equal to Belize’s entire GDP. He is nobody to cross. But this is our house, this is our country, here we are the masters. And with the full weight of that sovereignty we must now put an end to this disrespect, to this chance-taking, to new-age slavery.”

More recently Ashcroft has financed Belize’s cash-strapped police department. Last summer he donated equipment. In February he cut the ribbon on a new central station gym, together with the home affairs minister, Kareem Musa, and Williams, the commissioner, the Daily Mail reported. Ashcroft’s largesse extends to the prison where his son’s partner is being held. Its drugs rehabilitation wing is named after him.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Hartin is the director of lifestyle and experience at the Alaia Belize hotel group, a company run by Andrew Ashcroft. Andrew, who is 43, has lived in Belize for two decades. He and Hartin are not married, a spokesperson said, declining to comment further. Hartin may face a second charge after a small quantity of drugs were allegedly found at the scene, it has been reported.

Before a criminal trial and further lurid headlines, friends of the dead man have wondered how a night out under the stars could have ended in horror and bloodshed. “They have put a dagger in our hearts,” Jemmott’s sister Marie told local media this week. “We will pray for her as we are praying for his soul.”

The post Belize Mystery: The Wealthy Socialite & the Dead Cop appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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SV&G Home to New Medicinal Marijuana Firm

2021-06-04 FreeNews

Putting the recent volcanic devastation behind it, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines celebrated a significant win with the launch of Medicinal, a marijuana cultivating firm that offers a range of CDB products….made from plants that seem to thrive in volcanic infused soil.

The company was started by Kelly Glass and Barry Ferdinand in 2018, not too long after the SVG government legalised medicinal marijuana.

Having been a recipient of medicinal cannabis while being treated for cancer in the US, Glass experienced first-hand just how effective it is.

He was determined to introduce Vincentians to the power of medicinal marijuana while also making it accessible to them.

The company’s Chief Science Officer, Marie-Helene Tremblay told Loop Caribbean: “Cannabis has been grown in SVG for decades by traditional farmers. One of our main goals is to professionalize the cannabis industry not only in SVG but everywhere we set foot. This is done by training local farmers and being the first ones to get accreditation in good agricultural and collection practices. Medicinal intends to keep St. Vincent’s scientific minds in St. Vincent by creating jobs and opportunity for them.”

Tremblay said local farmers are the backbone of the country’s agriculture sector and will be instrumental in maintaining a sustainable economy for the cannabis industry.

As such, she explained, Medicinal has committed to providing technical assistance to guarantee that all protocols are followed and standards met.

“Technical assistance will include field supervision, seed-to-sale platform, seedlings and cuttings, as well as the importation of items needed by the farmers,” she said. “Using the Analytical Laboratory soon to be opened in SVG, we will be able to assure that the quality meets our standards by acquiring certificates of analysis for each product harvested at local farms.”

The Chief Science Officer said: “In SVG, we grow on volcanic soil, which is ideal for plant growth. We are very lucky to have such fertile soil, and all year round sun that helps the plants mature in an optimal way. We have many traditional farmers on our team that have been growing.”

Tremblay further explained: “Our vertical integration allows our customers to track the provenance of individual plants from seedling through growth, harvest, drying, extraction and purification. This reassures our customers that Medicinal has the control on all aspects of the supply chain.”

Having gotten approval from the Medicinal Cannabis Authority, Medicinal launched 20 products that are being distributed locally.

These products- lotions, tinctures, vapes, flowers, pre-rolls and kief- are THC and CBD.

THC is defined by the way cannabis makes you feel while the effects of CBD can’t be felt.

Wondering how this groundbreaking company impacts the SVG economy?

Tremblay told Loop: “Medicinal employs more than 40 employees. Moreover, we create indirect employment through our co-op farmer program. The company hopes to grow even more in the next year. Every time we can, we source our materials locally (construction, agricultural, marketing…). We have three new facilities in SVG. All three facilities created employment for more than 75 construction workers.”

Tremblay said it’s a privilege to be part of this growing industry. The aim she said, is to improve the lives of Medicinal customers, clients, partners, staff and the wider community.

The post SV&G Home to New Medicinal Marijuana Firm appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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Feel Lucky? A&B in Land for Vaccination Raffle

2021-06-04 FreeNews

The Antigua and Barbuda government is offering an 8,000 square feet parcel of land as an inducement to get nationals to get vaccinated as the island moves to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

A statement issued after the regular Cabinet meeting said persons must be vaccinated between the period June 7 to June 30.

“Although nearly 35,000 adults have taken the first dose at this time, at least 5,000 additional first-doses need to be administered by June 30, 2021. The Cabinet agreed that this novel approach towards inducing vaccination is intended to encourage as many adults to quickly vaccinate and to move the country closer towards achieving herd immunity. Parliamentarians and their family members are disqualified from participating in the raffle,” the statement said.

It said that other incentives that have been relied upon to encourage vaccination against the COVID-19 disease will continue, including food, gasoline, and gift vouchers.

Meanwhile, the government said that the new protocols governing entry into Antigua and Barbuda has come into effect and that nationals who are fully vaccinated and who have been tested within seven days of arrival at V.C. Bird International Airport, may receive their swabs upon arrival either at the Airport or at home.

“Results will be returned within 48 hours following the test, and negative results will cause the new arrivals to be released from quarantine. Those returning nationals who have only a COVID-19 negative test and who have not had any vaccine or only one vaccine administered, will be required to spend 14 days in quarantine. A second test will be administered near the end of the 14-day quarantine period; if negative, the returning national will be released,” the statement said.

It added that a visitor on arrival and staying at a hotel deemed a bio-secure space, will be dispatched to that hotel. The visitor could be tested either at the hotel or the airport.

“The Cabinet encourages all persons 18 years and older who were born outside of Antigua and Barbuda and who now reside within the state to become vaccinated. The immigration status does not and will not be held against those non-nationals who may be out of time.

“The Cabinet has ordered the Minister of Legal Affairs to enshrine within the Regulations governing COVID-19, that those immigrants who might otherwise be subject to “removal” or “deportation” cannot be prosecuted for seeking the immunization vaccine.

“Those who are yet to regularize their presence within the State will not be removed or deported from the State, the Cabinet instructed, so that all adults living in Antigua and Barbuda will be vaccinated, no questions asked,” the statement noted.

Antigua and Barbuda has recorded 1,262 positive cases and 42 deaths linked to the virus since March last year.

CMC

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Dominica: Choksi Still in Hospital, India Deportation Team Leaves Empty Handed

2021-06-04 FreeNews

New Delhi: India’s multi-agency team that had gone to Dominica to bring back Mehul Choksi is headed back home on a Qatar Airways private jet after the island nation’s high court adjourned the hearing on the fugitive diamantaire’s habeas corpus petition, sources said.

Publicly available flight data showed that the jet took off from the Melville Hall Airport in Dominica at 8.09 PM (local time) on 3 June and is travelling towards Madrid. The multi-agency team of officials is also returning, the sources said.

The team led by CBI DIG Sharda Raut was stationed in Dominica for nearly seven days to bring back Choksi, who is wanted in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, to India.

On Thursday, the Dominica High Court adjourned the hearing on Choksi’s habeas corpus petition. A habeas corpus petition is filed for producing before a court a person who is under arrest or in unlawful detention.

It is likely that the next hearing may take place after a month and the businessman will remain in Dominica, local media reported. Judge Bernie Stephenson will decide the next date of hearing after meeting both sides, media outlet Antigua News Room said.

The adjournment is to allow lawyers of Choksi and the Dominica government “to agree on the language to be used with respect to the injunction filed to prevent his removal from Dominica”, it said.

Thursday’s hearing was conducted through videoconferencing with a group of protesters standing outside the High Court building in Roseau carrying placards with messages seeking to know the truth about the controversy.

“Who brought Choksi to Dominica?” read one of the placards, the photo of which was published by many media outlets. The judge had on Wednesday ordered production of Choksi before the magistrate to face charges of illegal entry into Dominica.

The 62-year-old wheelchair-bound diamantaire, who has a pending Interpol Red Notice against him, arrived before presiding Roseau Magistrate Court in black shorts and a blue T-shirt from the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. His application for bail was rejected.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi had fled India in the first week of January 2018, weeks before the PNB scam rocked the Indian banking industry.

The duo allegedly bribed officials of the state-run bank to get Letters of Undertaking (LoU) on the basis of which they availed loans from overseas banks that remained unpaid.

The allegedly corrupt bank officials did not enter these LoUs in the core banking software of PNB, thus evading scrutiny. The non-payment of these LoUs or bank guarantees worth Rs 13,500 crore resulted in default and became a liability on the bank.

Choksi had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen since he fled Delhi.

He was detained in neighbouring island country Dominica for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.

His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian and brought to Dominica on a boat.

Modi escaped to Europe and was finally held in London, where he is contesting his extradition to India. Choksi took the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017

======================================================

Choksi’s wife hits out at Prime Minister Browne for deportation comments

By Orville Williams

or**************@*************er.com

The wife of embattled businessman Mehul Choksi has hit out at Prime Minister Gaston Browne for his comments regarding the deportation of the Indian-born fugitive to his native land.

Browne has suggested that Choksi was “hiding” behind his Antiguan and Barbudan citizenship, rather than answering the accusations against him back in India, where he is still a citizen. He added that for that reason, he would support Choksi’s deportation directly to India, rather than a return to Antigua.

The prime minister also previously raised concerns about Choksi’s citizenship – awarded through the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) in 2017 – going as far as notifying the man that he would be pushing for the revocation of his citizenship, on the grounds that he willfully concealed information pertinent to his CIP application.

That information refers to his alleged involvement in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

Speaking to India’s ‘World Is One News’ (WION) this week, Priti Choksi expressed her disappointment with Browne’s comments on her husband’s status, questioning the PM’s insistence on having him sent from Dominica to India, as opposed to Antigua.

“I believe that if the law is followed, he would be sent back to his country, which is Antigua. [Therefore] … we are deeply anguished by [the prime minister’s] comments, because [he] has said that, ‘do not let him come back to Antigua, because he will be protected by the Constitution and laws of Antigua’.

“Why would he be protected by the Constitution and laws if he was not a citizen of Antigua?” she queried.

Priti Choksi also spoke on her husband’s presence in Dominica, amid suggestions that he travelled to the country on his own accord. Those suggestions contradict the claims from Choksi’s legal team, that he was forcefully removed from Antigua and transported to the neighbouring island.

She told WION, “There was no reason for him to leave Antigua and Barbuda. He has two cases to answer here, both those cases are in court and there are stays on both of them … even if he loses the case, he has the option to go to the Supreme Courtof the Caribbean and the Privy Council.

“But there is no thought on him losing; that is how strong his case is. What would the reason be for him to leave a place where he is safe?”

The local authorities in Dominica were also criticised by Choksi’s wife, who questioned why a kidnapping investigation was not initiated, following the claims by her husband that he was abducted and brought to the island.

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SKN Records Four (4) Additional Cases Of COVID-19

2021-06-04 FreeNews

Ministry of Health Media Release
June 3, 2021
Issued By: Office of the Chief Medical Officer

This afternoon,ThursdayJune3, 2021, I wish to update you on the present COVID-19 situation. Within the last twenty-four hours we have recorded four (4) additional cases. These new cases are nationals and are referred to as Case #75 through to Case #78. The individuals are in isolation at a COVID-19 certified facility. These cases bring the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases to 78 with 64 cases for St. Kitts and 14 cases for Nevis. Please note that 51cases have fully recovered with zero deaths. There are now twenty-seven(27) active cases. These patients are stable and are being monitored.

The Ministry of Health continues its robust contact tracing exercise which began on Wednesday May 19, 2021and we will update you as the situation unfolds. We will broaden our web of contact tracing and testing to identify all possible contacts. The aim is to break the chains of transmission of the COVID-19 virus and contain this cluster of cases. The Ministry of Health wishes to assure the public that all measures are being taken to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

We urge you to adhere to the COVID-19 prevention and control measures. These include wearing a face mask, maintaining good hand hygiene, maintaining physical distance of at least 6 feet from others when in public places and avoiding crowds and events. These non-pharmaceutical measures work, and we are encouraging everyone to comply with them especially at this time.

We remind you that the AstraZeneca / Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is our main tool in fighting this virus and we urge you to come forward and get vaccinated. By getting vaccinated you are not only protecting yourself but those who cannot be vaccinated such as all of our school children. We continue to encourage persons to empower themselves with the facts about the benefits of the AstraZeneca/Oxford Vaccine and take advantage of this opportunity to be vaccinated. You can access the COVID-19 vaccine at any health center in St. Kitts during this week Monday to Friday between the hours of 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm and any health center in Nevis during this week between the hours of 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Let us work together to maintain and protect the health and wellbeing of the people of the Federation.

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'Unbreakable' headset and compact controller nigh on perfect with Dolby Atmos

2021-06-04 FreeNews

It's almost a pair matched in heaven, the latest headset and controller by RIG certainly look the part – but one without the other doesn't quite hit the mark.

New-gen gaming relies on a beefy sound system or set of headphones to shine, but that's tough to do on a budget.

What if you could get incredible sound with a little boost from your controller? The latest headset and controller from Nacon/RIG do just that.

RIG PRO Compact Controller

First impressions, as expected by the name – it's small. It may not look like it at first glance, but it wasn't the best fit in my hands compared to other Xbox controllers.

The controller's handles are slightly too short, pinkie fingers miss out on a spot to rest and slip off the bottom.

The controller has a nice finish, a slightly textured grip covers the controller.

The triggers and bumpers spring back nicely and the vibrations in the triggers when performing actions are excellent.

All other buttons are responsive and smooth. Although the A, B, Y and X buttons are clicky. The thumbsticks, while small, fit well under my thumbs.

Awkwardly placed on the controller is the share button, but in RIG's defence they have designed this controller specifically for competitive gaming – sharing isn't top priority here.

One of it's biggest flaws, if I could even call it that, is it's a wired controller with a chunky 3 metre cable.

It's durable, that's for certain, but the cable looks like a mess when draped across the loungeroom – it almost takes me back to the original Xbox.

But there's a good reason, which I'll get to shortly, as to why that cable's there and it's the reason I rate this RIG duo so highly.

The controller is completely customizable, from buttons to trigger and stick sensitivity. The RIG Pro Compact has software to set the controller to exactly how you like it.

A 3.5mm headphone jack can be found at the base of the controller. It's this piece of tech that holds the key to the product's success.

You can pick up the RIG PRO Compact in store now for $89.99.

And the kicker is…

It's the world's first controller with Dolby Atmos included.

RIG 500 PRO GEN 2 Headset

Straight out of the box the RIG 500 PRO GEN 2 looks and feels great.

The headset is comfortable and light, you can easily forget you're wearing it.

RIG claims their headsets are "unbreakable" and I'll be honest, I didn't try to find out.

But if the steel band, a first for the RIG brand, is anything to go by – it's a tough piece of tech.

It also has a self-adjusting strap, so no matter the size of your head you should be fine.

Much like many modern day headsets, the microphone can be turned on and off by lifting it up or down. You can also completely remove the microphone if you have no need for it.

I did find the cable connecting the microphone to the headset was a bit soft to move, but still managed to produce great sound with a recording test.

The flat cable connection between the headphones and controller is neat, it's light and looks modern.

There's no buttons or knobs on the headset itself but you will find a volume control slider on the headphone cable.

To really test Dolby Atmos I jumped into Ori and the Will of the Wisps. It's one of few Xbox titles to fully support Dolby Atmos.

Each crack of lightning, every song could be felt through the RIG 500 Gen 2.

Dolby Atmos and 3D audio is the future of gaming and film, it's essentially second to graphical enhancements in video games.

Being able to hear things at a distance, behind you and above you is truly immersive.

The headset includes a subscription for Dolby Atmos for the shelf life of the product, alone this would cost about $25.

You'll need to enter the download code, which comes in the packaging, on your Xbox to install the Dolby Atmos software. You'll need to do the same on PC.

The good thing about this headset is it'll work with pretty much any device that takes 3.5mm connection. That includes the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4 and PS5.

The RIG 500 PRO Gen 2 is releasing on August 1 and will retail for about $130.

Overall, the headset is the front runner in the RIG duo. The controller alone, while Dolby Atmos ready, is simply a basic, small third-party controller with the added bonus of Dolby Atmos support. But when you combine the two, it's a glorious fusion of sound and gaming.

9News was also given a teaser for another Nacon controller coming later this year, but details were limited. We'll bring you all the latest on this when it comes to hand.

The RIG PRO 500 and RIG PRO Compact were supplied to 9News.com.au for the purpose of this review.

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Armed Offenders Squad raids houses after shooting injures one in Wairoa

2021-06-04 FreeNews

Armed police have raided two Wairoa homes, and found a loaded firearm at one, in a dramatic day following the injury of a person in a shooting in the town.Officer in charge of the investigation, Wairoa Station Senior Sergeant Maui…

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Perth manhunt underway after man goes on rampage

2021-06-04 FreeNews

WA Police are scouring Perth's southern suburbs tonight after a man went on a 'relentless' rampage yesterday.

The 40-year-old ran from police and jumped out of a closed window before allegedly attacking two elderly women in an effort to make an escape.

Police body camera video shows the man in his underwear and holding a shovel at 7.30am, as police draw their Tasers.

Manhunt underway in Perth's southern suburbs after man's 'relentless' rampage

"Put the shovel down, put the shovel down now, stop… stop," police can be heard yelling in the video.

Detectives chased Laemin Forbes through a Como construction site, before police pulled their Tasers for a second time.

But again, the man runs away, jumping fences and into strangers' backyards.

Police caught up to Mr Forbes but he ran from their sights and he hasn't been seen since.

"He was desperate, he actually dove through a closed window to get out of the house," Detective Sargent Matthew Atkinson said.

'Mary' was one of two elderly women allegedly attacked on Edgecumbe Street during the southern suburbs rampage.

Manhunt underway in Perth's southern suburbs after man's 'relentless' rampage

"He just clocked me and pulled me backwards and down I went… you really don't have much choice in that case," she alleged.

The 84-year-old was walking her dog when the man charged towards her.

She hit her head on the concrete.

"I saw it come and I thought he's going to finish me off… but he didn't," she said.

"He's very strong and I couldn't have fought him off even if I tried, I'm just a little old lady."

Police said Mr Forbes came in contact with an 82-year-old woman next.

He allegedly stole her handbag, grabbed her keys and took her car, which was later found dumped in Huntingdale.

"We've got concerns he's going to start offending and that creates a risk for the public which is why we are deploying all our resources around the clock to find him, he is our number one priority," Detective Sargeant Atkinson said.

Manhunt underway in Perth's southern suburbs after man's 'relentless' rampage