Two more people have made complaints to the BBC about Russell Brand's time at the broadcaster, bringing the total number of five, according to the man reviewing the fallen star's behaviour and the network's response to it.

In an update to the review on Tuesday, the BBC confirmed two people made complaints while Brand was working on 6 Music and Radio 2 from 2006 to 2008 and a third came forward about a widely reported incident in Los Angeles after he left.

The UK's national broadcaster announced the review after British media outlets The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4's Dispatches published a joint investigation in which four women alleged Brand sexually assaulted them in separate instances between 2006 and 2013.

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Another woman alleges Brand sexually assaulted her in a Los Angeles office bathroom in 2008 before talking about it immediately after on air.

Brand has vehemently denied all the allegations.

BBC director of editorial complaints and reviews Peter Johnston, who is running the process, said another two complainants had come forward since he began his investigation.

He said the review was "in no way complete" but it appeared the former star faced no disciplinary action before his departure in 2008.

"The passage of time means this is not a straightforward task – for example, the BBC did not maintain a centralised record of staff complaints regarding bullying and harassment (including sexual harassment) at the time," he said.

"We have established that some complaints and concerns were raised. It would not be appropriate for me to reach any conclusions until I am satisfied all lines of enquiry have been exhausted. 

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"In particular, we are concerned to ensure that anyone who has relevant information has the opportunity to speak to us."

Johnston said the LA allegation was formally reported to the BBC in 2019 but he was looking into what was known about it within the broadcaster before that point and what was broadcast at the time.

Regarding the claim Brand used BBC cars to pick up a 16-year-old girl from school, Johnston said car booking records were no longer available "due to the passage of time".

Despite accounts Brand had access to the cars, Johnston said no one spoken to so far recalled driving the actor.

He also released audience complaint figures relating to the star, revealing 62 complaints in 2006, 317 in 2007 and 225 in 2008, excluding the thousands made over the segment that forced him out of the broadcaster, involving lewd messages left on an actor's answering machine.

A book-keeper driving around in a $160,000 Porsche was wilfully blind to the fact stolen taxpayer funds paid for the sports car, a court has heard.

Christopher James Guillan helped since-jailed fraudster Adam Cranston lavishly spend taxpayer funds stolen through Plutus Payroll.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty in June to dealing with criminal proceeds from the tax fraud and money-laundering conspiracy.

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Christopher Guillan had been used but he was not a victim, the prosecutor said.

Plutus and its web of second-tier companies, directed on paper by vulnerable dupes, were used to siphon off funds destined for the tax office to the tune of $105 million before the fraud was exposed in May 2017.

Guillan helped find a dummy director for Plutus in March 2017 and collected consultancy fees as he advised how to wind the company up in a doomed bid to avoid detection.

He netted more than $155,000 for himself while dealing with almost $2.5 million in proceeds, prosecutor Jane Paingakulam said on Tuesday.

Guillan's guilty pleas came as a trial approached in the NSW District Court, months after five others linked to the scheme were found guilty by a Supreme Court jury.

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His barrister Paul Coady told the court the 36-year-old was manipulated and was paid a salary, not a commission, working on a company that had a legitimate face, albeit a deceptive one.

"The public facade that was put on Plutus Payroll by the main conspirators had the effect of not only deceiving its customers and the ATO … but people who came within Cranston's orbit and were useful to him," Coady said.

Holding a business degree, expertise in book-keeping and control over a pre-existing company set up for lawful purposes made Guillan very attractive to the conspirators, he added.

Paingakulam said there was no doubt Guillan had been used but she reminded the court he was not a victim.

"It really was wilful blindness that prevented the offender seeing what he was involved in before it was spelled out to him," she said.

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Guillan's company, G&T Holdings, was used to purchase assets on behalf of Cranston, but the company had no other business activities or income, the court heard.

Adam Cranston was jailed for at least a decade in August.

When Guillan needed more money he just called Cranston's younger sister Lauren, Paingakulam said.

Acquisitions included a plane, a boat, motorbikes, a caravan and a number of cars ranging from luxury vehicles to a racing car and a truck to transport it.

Cranston had a fondness for Porsches, once arguing with his sister when she wanted to buy a Hyundai instead, their trial heard.

Paingakulam said Guillan also had daily use of a $160,000 Porsche and she asked the court to account for that as part of his overall derived benefit.

Five people, including Adam and Lauren Cranston, were jailed earlier this year following a marathon trial.

Adam Cranston was jailed for at least a decade in August alongside co-conspirator Jason Onley.

Judge Warwick Hunt adjourned to Wednesday to consider Guillan's sentence.

An axe-wielding man who smashed dozens of vehicles from three separate car dealerships across Melbourne reportedly caused $100,000 worth of damage.

Police are trying to work out what motivated the man to "brazenly" smash dozens of cars with an axe in the south-eastern suburb of Glen Waverley on November 2.

The offender was caught on CCTV using the axe at several car dealerships along Springvale Road.

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Police said 20 luxury vehicles were damaged between 6am and 8am.

The man then ran from the scene.

The damage included smashed windscreens, as well as a number of bumped-up panels, bonnets and fenders.

Andrew Moschini from Waverley BMW said it was a really disappointing crime.

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"In the middle of the night, nothing better to do, it's really frustrating that someone could do such a thing," he told 9News.

"Lucky it wasn't in business hours with customers around or employees."

Prior to the attack on the BMW dealership, the man targeted a Mazda dealership less than 2km down the road.

"I was dumbfounded when I found out," Mark Barratt from Garry and Warren Smith Mazda said.

"We really can't see the sense in it, or the purpose and don't know the reason."

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Victoria Police officer Senior Constable Bassett said the offender appeared to be "methodical" in his actions.

"It's quite brazen, it's not something that we want occurring in the community," he said.

"We don't want people walking around with axes.

"He appears to be quite methodical but for what motivated him – we are trying to establish that."

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The offender is described as being about 175cm tall with black curly hair.

He was wearing a tan hoodie and pants with slide shoes.

Anyone with information, dashcam or CCTV footage should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential online report.

Exclusive: A high-ranking member of the NSW Police Force has been charged with drink-driving, six months after allegedly crashing his car and later abandoning the vehicle.

9News understands the inspector attended functions in The Rocks, in the city's CBD, in May before allegedly getting behind the wheel of his police-issued car.

The 46-year-old allegedly struck a barrier while off-duty and driving on the NorthConnex ramp at 1.54am.

He is then accused of driving to a nearby street in Wahroonga and leaving the damaged car there.

He was charged with high-range drink-driving and driving under the influence last week.

The officer in question will face court next month.

Normally, when officers are charged with an offence a media release is issued.

This did not happen regarding this case.

NSW Police has asked 9News not to identify the inspector due to operational reasons.

In response to questions raised by 9News about the conduct of the investigation, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the matter had already been forwarded to the Professional Standards Command and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) for investigation.

A spokesperson for Police Minister Yasmin Catley responded to questions put by 9News and said: "The Minister's office was advised of these matters this afternoon.

"The Minister is visiting police stations in Western NSW and has had limited phone reception.

"She was verbally advised of these very serious charges close to 5pm today.

"We understand the Commissioner has referred the matter to the LECC for independent, arms-length investigation."

The cost of popular vegetables is expected to climb right before Christmas after a freak storm devastated farms in Queensland's Lockyer Valley.

The crop damage has devastated farmers, with losses estimated to be millions of dollars, according to Lockyer Valley Growers president Michael Sippel.

"We think in the vicinity of $30 million in crop losses and that's growing by the day," Sippel said.

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Heidi Steffen's farm is one of about 35 impacted by a freak tornado-like storm that tore through the region on Friday afternoon.

The severe weather has left a tangled mess of metal and greenhouse roofing near the family's eggplant crop.

"We were probably seven weeks off finishing, so we were at the tail end of the season," Steffen said.

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Steffen's lush green vines of chokos were also ready to harvest.

"The chokos I was going to start picking yesterday," she said.

"Obviously I can't even find where a choko has gone."

The loss of produce in one of the state's key food bowls is expected to have an impact on shoppers.

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The cost of broccolini in particular expected to rise right before Christmas.

The government said it is offering assistance loans for emergency repairs but farmers in the region have called for support.

"We'll get through it, we'll move on but some sort of assistance would be great," Steffen said.

Sean Wilson savagely attacked his partner, beating and kicking her in the head and face.

‘It isn’t the law you have to get to school in a BMW,’ says mayor.

The Victorian premier has warned students against ditching classes as part of a mass school strike in support of Palestine planned for next Thursday. 

It's understood school students across Melbourne are planning to walk out of their classrooms for the event next week.

The plans come as student climate protestors disrupted state parliament today, carrying banners and chanting 'Which side are you on?' at politicians.

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Students from a number of inner-city schools are understood to be planning to participate in a strike at 1.30pm on November 23, which group Free Palestine Melbourne is advertising, asking students to join the "city-wide walkout".

The protest has been inspired by mass school walk-outs in the US and UK.

Organisers Ivy and Audra told 9News it was a powerful way to cause disruption.

"It's horrific what's happening and I'm angry and I want to take a stance," Year 11 student Audra said.

"I know my schooling's important, but this is just way more important at the moment."

"I'm learning about life, about the world, and that's so much more important than algebra," Ivy added.

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Posters have already popped up at high schools around the city, with concern the ideology could indoctrinate students.

Former principal Tracy Tully told Today she worried the rally could get "out of control" quickly.

"I've seen these things turn very quickly and you end up with a school lockdown which is horrendous," she said.

"No one wants that. Who is protecting those students who are vulnerable, who don't even want to be in that conversation?"

Premier Jacinta Allan said it's expected all students attend school next week.

"School attendance is a matter for individual schools, and individual schools working with their families," she said.

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An education department spokesperson said schools were communicating with parents and carers about escalating conflict in Melbourne.

"Schools also ensure students understand that any form of racism is not tolerated, and nor is any language likely to incite any form of racism, antisemitism or violence," the spokesperson said.

The grief and devastation of the families of NSWgay hate crime victims over 50 years has been recognised in the closing submissions of the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes.

Over 18 months, the manner and cause of death of unsolved deaths between 1970 and 2010 in the state were examined and analysed as to whether they were gay hate crimes.

There were 22 unsolved deaths examined by the inquiry, which found at least 14 were homicides.

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A further six deaths were found to have "objective reason" of being a homicide, while two were not homicides.

"Of those 20 deaths (that either were homicides or there is objectively reason to suspect that they were), all 20 were cases in which there is also, objectively, reason to suspect that LGBTIQ bias was a factor," Senior Counsel Assisting Peter Gray said.

But the inquiry acknowledged that there is the "unfortunate possibility" that many unsolved cases have been missed as gay hate crimes.

In closing submissions, Gray noted families and loved ones have been struck with grief and devastation for decades.

"In the cases that remain unsolved, there is the additional curse of uncertainty and doubt, a curse which may never go away," he said.

"For the brothers and sisters of those who have died, the pain can be especially acute.

"When your brother or sister dies, suddenly and unexpectedly and in a violent or unexplained way, something goes hopelessly wrong. The tectonic plates shift and nothing is the same."

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The inquiry raised "disappointing" matters regarding the police investigations of these suspected gay hate crimes over the last 50 years.

It found in some cases documents and exhibits had been destroyed or lost, entire investigative files weren't produced and uncertainty and ambiguity as to whether investigative steps had been taken or not.

It noted "unsatisfactory and defective" record-keeping by police and a combative attitude.

The inquiry found for at least several years before it commenced that the police force was aware of these failing practices and failed to inform the special commission of the "underlying systemic problem".

But well into the inquiry, the police force suddenly produced large swathes of documents the special commission had requested which only extended the process.

In the case of Crispin Dye, who was bashed to death in Darlinghurst in 1993, the inquiry uncovered a host of new evidence that had never been examined or forensically tested.

In the case of Ernest Head, who was found dead in his Summer Hill apartment in 1976, the commission re-tested a bloody handprint from the scene of the frenzied stabbing.

Both re-examinations of forensic materials came up with a match, both suspects were men who are now deceased.

The inquiry raised concerns about the failures of the police force to examine the evidence at the time.

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The inquiry also condemned the police force's attitude that sometimes appeared "overly defensive, even adversarial" during proceedings.

John Russell's body was found at the bottom of a cliff in Tamarama in Sydney's eastern suburbs in 1989.

For his brother Peter, ire has always been raised at the police investigation into the death.

"I was accused of it. It was the first thing they said to me at Bondi Police Station over 35 years ago, 'Why did you do it'," he said.

Despite the bungles raised in the inquiry by the police force over the 50-year period, the inquiry called it an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past moving forward.

"This Special Commission represents a chance for the NSWPF to cooperate with that community in enabling a much fuller picture to emerge of how and why those problems developed, in the ways that they did and to the extent that they did, and in visualising ways in which the future might be different from the past," Gray said.

Some of the crimes of asylum seekers released into the Australian community after a controversial High Court ruling have been revealed.

The High Court ruled the indefinite detention of a stateless Rohingya man who had served time for child sex offences was unlawful, saying it was unconstitutional to detain someone with no prospect of being removed from Australia.

This overturned a nearly 20-year precedent that allowed Australia to indefinitely detain asylum seekers who failed character assessments but were unable to be deported.

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Now, 81 people have been released on special visa conditions.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles today revealed to parliament some of the crimes the individuals had committed which led to them failing character assessments.

"The decision of the High Court, which required release, affects some very, very serious offenders," Giles said.

"I believe there are three murderers. There are several sex offenders."

It is also understood among the group is an alleged hitman from Malaysia and an Iranian man accused of stabbings.

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Up to 94 people could be released under the ruling.

Earlier, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus emphasised the safety of the Australian community remains the priority.