Authorities have requested importers and manufacturers of vape products to review the nicotine concentrations, with the potential for products to be withdrawn if they exceeded limits. This comes as TVNZ’s Fair Go reported the Ministry…
Tag Archives: oceania
Disorganised lawyer fined and suspended after 'train wreck' case leads to client's bankruptcy
A lawyer has been suspended for a year after his “woeful” conduct caused his friend and client to spiral into a $15,000 debt and bankruptcy.Stephen Potter’s reprimand began with an attempt to help his friend with the legal logistics…
Mitre 10 thieves return for refunds after stealing drill bits and blades
A man and woman took turns to steal drill bits and saw blades from Mitre 10, only to return them the same day at the same store for refunds. When arrested and questioned by police, Tyson Manning Jason Simm, 33, denied stealing at…
Lehrmann's lawyers refer Higgins to police over comments outside court
Lawyers for the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins have referred her comments made outside court to police.
Bruce Lehrmann had pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent and was facing trial at the ACT Supreme Court.
This morning, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum dismissed the jury after it was discovered a juror had undertaken their own research in relation to the case and brought it into the jury room.
READ MORE: Jury in Bruce Lehrmann rape trial discharged
Higgins made a statement to waiting media after the trial was aborted, saying, in part: "I told the truth no matter how uncomfortable or unflattering to the court."
"Today's outcome does not change that truth," she said, before discussing her experiences dealing with the justice system.
Lehrmann's lawyers criticised Higgins for the three-minute remarks, saying "the complainant proceeded to give what appears to have been a pre-prepared speech to the media outside the court".
"We have brought these comments to the attention of the Court and the Australian Federal Police, and it is not appropriate for Mr Lehrmann or his lawyers to make any comments as to whether the complainant's statements might amount to a contempt or offences against the ACT Criminal Code," a statement from lawyer Steven Whybrow read.
Neither Lehrmann or his lawyers will be making any further comment, the statement said.
A new trial has been set for February next year.
Auckland's new deputy mayor not giving full support to Mayor Wayne Brown's programme
Auckland Council’s new deputy mayor Desley Simpson is not giving her full public backing to Mayor Wayne Brown’s programme to “Fix Auckland”.Brown today appointed Simpson as his deputy, praising her as someone who is universally…
Missing teen last seen driving stolen car, police say
Police allege the car a missing Queensland teenager was last seen driving had been stolen as the search for the girl extends into its tenth day.
Tea Wright-Finger, 19, was last seen on Sunday, October 16 on Coalbrook Road in the town of Richmond, five-and-a-half hours drive inland from Townsville.
Wright-Finger was driving a blue 2013 Toyota Prado 4WD with the registration 210-TLA when she disappeared.
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Inspector Damien Crosby said the Prado was stolen from Proserpine, in Queensland's Whitsunday region, on October 14.
"The Prado, which has been linked to Tea and which she was last seen in the vicinity of, was a stolen vehicle," he said.
"Tea is obviously connected to the vehicle and the vehicle was stolen a short time before she was reported missing by her family."
Crosby said the car doesn't belong to someone known to Wright-Finger and was "obtained by fraudulent means without payment".
Police have been unable to find the car or confirm which direction it travelled in Richmond when Wright-Finger went missing.
Crosby said police are following up on every lead in the search for Wright-Finger but there is no evidence so far to suggest she's been met by foul play.
Emergency services launched a search on Saturday in the Flinders River area after her phone switched on briefly around 9.30am on Tuesday, October 18.
Since her phone switched on, there has been no sign of Wright-Finger.
A land and air search has been underway for the past 10 days through rugged terrain and thick vegetation along the Flinders River, but there has been no luck in locating the 19-year-old or her car.
Emergency services are concerned for her welfare after temperatures hit upwards of 35C over the past week in the Richmond area.
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Earlier this week, the Mount Isa RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter scoured more than 700 kilometres of land from Richmond down to Blackbraes National Park.
"Unfortunately the crew found no signs of the missing woman," RACQ Lifeflight said in a statement.
Wright-Finger is Caucasian, approximately 180cms tall with a medium build and blondish or light brown hair.
Anyone who has seen Wright-Finger, or the car, should contact Queensland Police.
'Proven liar' behind 'senseless murder'
The jail term of a single mother's murderer should be moderated to reflect her 21 crime-free years after the homicide, her lawyer has told a judge.
Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez, dubbed a "proven liar" by prosecutors, faced a sentence hearing on Thursday for the murder of her mother, Irene Jones, who was strangled and stabbed in her Sydney home in November 2001.
Arrested in 2019, the now-48-year-old has been in custody since May when a NSW Supreme Court jury rejected her story about a violent robbery and found her guilty of murder.
READ MORE: Jury in Bruce Lehrmann rape trial discharged
Despite continuing to deny involvement in her mother's death, Camelo-Gomez was a low risk of reoffending, had good prospects of rehabilitation and had a lesser need to be personally deterred from reoffending, her lawyer Belinda Rigg SC said on Thursday.
"(She) has, for 21 years, lived in conformity within social norms and has not offended," Ms Rigg told the NSW Supreme Court.
"The level of, what we would submit, influence upon the offender was unusual and not likely to be replicated."
At trial, the Crown said the offender had been obsessed with Carlos Camelo-Gomez, a married man her mother hated.
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By killing her mother, Camelo-Gomez would remove a perceived obstacle to the relationship and inherit the victim's home, allowing her to financially support Mr Camelo-Gomez.
But crown prosecutor David Scully urged the court against trying to determine the offender's specific role in the murder plot, given the "vacuum of information".
"(It's) too much, even on the balance of probabilities, to fill in the gaps to find Carlos was the immediate instigator and it was his idea," he said.
"To then suggest Carlos Camelo-Gomez inserted himself and was the driving force, the Crown submits, would be speculation."
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Mr Camelo-Gomez could not give evidence at trial as he suffered a serious brain injury after a 2013 car crash and was unable to remember prior events.
Mr Scully said there was no difficulty in the court finding the offender hadn't offended since 2001 but asked Justice Helen Wilson to consider hearsay that Camelo-Gomez was earlier violent towards her mother.
After trial, Camelo-Gomez told a forensic psychiatrist she'd been the victim of domestic violence and prison violence.
But Mr Scully said the court should reject "anything the offender says unless it is supported by objective evidence".
"The offender is – to state the obvious – a proven liar," he said.
"(She) has in the trial, the jury must have found, told an elaborate lie repeatedly over a period of time and … the offender continues to lie."
The court also learned of the wide-ranging and lasting impacts of Ms Jones's "senseless murder" on her small, close-knit family.
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The warm, engaging single mother wouldn't hurt a fly and had given her daughter so much love – often going without herself, while on a pension, relative Keith Sheldrick said.
Explaining the bloody murder scene would be imprinted on his mind forever, he said the years of speculation surrounding Ms Jones' death led to relatives' unease, nightmares and fears they'd fall victim to a random, violent robbery too.
"We will never know the full extent of what Irene suffered at the hands of the (offender)," Mr Sheldrick told the court.
"But with the little we do know, we are dismayed and disgusted for the little regard (she) showed towards her mum."
Justice Wilson will sentence Camelo-Gomez on November 16.
Christchurch police arrest three youths after cyclist seriously injured in crash
Christchurch police arrested three youths after a crash seriously injured a cyclist on Tuesday evening, as authorities blame peer pressure, social media fame and money for a recent spate of youth offending.The cyclist was hit by…
'Exhausted' red-bellied black snake rescued from Sydney beach
Wildlife rescuers have been called to rescue a venomous snake from a Sydney beach.
Rescue organisation WIRES confirmed they were called to remove a red-bellied black snake at Manly Beach.
The visitor was spotted in the surf, before appearing on the sand.
READ MORE: Jury in Bruce Lehrmann rape trial discharged
The snakes can swim and are often found near water, but WIRES rescuer Gary Pattinson said it had probably been washed into the ocean via a stormwater drain.
"It's not an everyday call – every now and again we get them on beaches," he said.
The snake is now being cared for by Pattinson.
He said it is uninjured but exhausted after the ordeal.
It will be released into the wild.
The expert, who has been rescuing wildlife for over 20 years and is originally from the Lake District in the UK, currently has three red-bellies and one eastern brown snake at his North Balgowlah home.
Scott Williams posted about the snake on Instagram.
"Most Aussie thing in a while, red belly black snake on the beach at Manly (…) very alive!" he wrote.
"Was out in the surf then came in to warm up! Lifeguards had an interesting day then WIRES to the rescue."
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Williams told 9news.com.au lifeguards were alerted and kept people out of the way.
"I live one street back from the beach so I raced home to drop my board off and grab my phone to get a few shots, that when WIRES came down to pick it up," he said.
"It was crazy, he just picked it up with his hands like it was a dropped sausage roll."
While venomous, Pattinson said people shouldn't be scared of snakes.
"Snakes don't attack people, any bites that are ever received from snakes are either from a highly unlikely accident or generally people doing the wrong thing trying to pick them up," he said.
Taranaki woman admits stabbing her ex multiple times during argument over who will cook dinner
A woman became so enraged during an argument with her ex over who was cooking dinner that she grabbed a knife and stabbed him more than a dozen times, severing one of the man’s arteries in the process. During the bloody attack,…