Tag Archives: oceania

headline

'Terrifying' mid-flight brawl forces Jetstar flight to turn around

Video footage has captured a "terrifying" mid-flight brawl which forced a Jetstar plane to make a priority landing on Tuesday night.

The chaos unfolded just 24 minutes into the flight from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Video shows the moment punches were thrown, while multiple people attempted to pull two men apart.

READ MORE: Severe weather warnings for heavy rain and damaging winds issued for Victoria and Tasmania

A passenger onboard witnessed the altercation and said it was "absolutely terrifying".

"It was unnerving," the passenger told 9News Melbourne. 

"There was a commotion, there was yelling, people started standing up, it went on for a couple of minutes.

"One gentleman was then escorted to the rear of the aircraft, he had blood on his face… we didn't hear anything else, we had no information."

The passenger said without warning, the plane started descending and the captain carried out a priority landing.

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"We didn't know what was happening," the passenger said. 

A map of the flight's path shows the aircraft turned around near Mansfield and returned to Melbourne airport where Australian Federal Police removed the two people from the plane.

Passengers claim one of the men involved in the brawl was behaving aggressively before he boarded.

"The guy was aggressive before he got on the plane and we thought surely they won't let him on the aircraft," the passenger said.

READ MORE: Melbourne airport security breach caused by an innocent 'mistake'

A Jetstar spokesperson said the airline had a "zero tolerance for disruptive and abusive behaviour".

"The safety of our passengers and our crew is always our first priority and we thank our customers for their patience," the spokesperson said.

Shortly after landing, the flight resumed to Brisbane.

Australian Federal Police said no arrests had been made. 

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Victorian communities prepare before severe weather and flooding

Victorians and Tasmanians have begun preparing for wild weather, with severe weather warnings for heavy rainfall and damaging winds issued for both states.

Victoria has been put on notice for a major flood emergency, with up to 100mm of rain likely to fall in some areas north of the Dividing Range and up to 50mm of rain in Melbourne, coupled with wild winds of gusts up to 100km/h.

The amount of rain forecast is expected to have the potential to cause significant damage, with the state's water catchments already full.

READ MORE: 'Terrifying' mid-flight brawl forces Jetstar flight to turn around

A severe weather warning is in place for much of the state, including Melbourne, for Thursday.

Residents in Central Victoria are among those on high alert, with many starting to sandbag properties in Rochester with the Campaspe River expected to rise in the coming days.

"Rochy's probably going to go under and a lot of houses are going to go under," resident Jake Young said.

https://twitter.com/BOM_Vic/status/1579995565173129218

"The community is coming out and giving everyone a hand which is the best thing we can do right now."

The SES is expecting to fill 20,000 sandbags, waiting for the Campaspe river to peak. The worst-case scenario is predicted to be just below the flood levels seen in January 2011.

READ MORE: Pedestrian killed after being hit by truck in Melbourne

Numerous 'watch and act' and 'prepare now' warnings are also in place for areas surrounding Victoria's rivers. 

Fears an existing landslide could be worsened by the rain has led to people in Bogong Village and Falls Creek in Victoria's Alpine region having been told to leave the area by midday, and to a main road into the area being closed.

The SES has said the warning is due to a crack that was noticed in a track on September 29.

"Regional Roads Victoria have erected barriers around the area, to minimise further movement on to Bogong High Plains Road. RRV are clearing and transporting debris from the site, on a daily basis," a spokesperson for the SES said.

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"A traffic management plan is in place, while geological technicians work to assess the slope. Emergency management teams are also meeting regularly to assess the need for further intervention."

Manager of the Diana Alpine Lodge in Falls Creek, Lisa Logan, has told 3AW one lane on the only road out of the area is already blocked due to a slow-moving landslide.

"There's only one road in at the moment. The other road out of Falls Creek is still closed due to snow."

Logan said the road actually collapsed due to heavy rain fall 20 years ago.

READ MORE: New flood map shows Queensland suburbs at risk of flooding

weather map of Tasmaniahttps://twitter.com/BOM_Tas/status/1580001673149353985

Some regional communities are being warned that they could be isolated for up to 72 hours due to flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a possible rainfall range of 45 to 70mm tomorrow, while Melbourne's wettest October day on record – on October 31, 2010 – saw 61.4mm of rain fall.

However, Weatherzone is predicting that Melbourne will only see closer to 45mm of rain fall tomorrow.

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Forecast accumulated rain over Australia this week according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

Meanwhile, in Tasmania, a heavy burst of rain means the state's north is predicted to potentially get more than 200mm of rainfall.

Winds are expected to bring persistent rain between this afternoon and Friday morning.

Flood watches and warnings and severe weather warnings are likely to be issued in Tasmania over the next few days.

Rain is expected to be lighter in southern Tasmania, but Hobart could still receive 20 to 40mm between today and Friday.

headline

Man who hid gun used in Love Machine nightclub shooting jailed

Moussa Hamka claimed he was paid by an unknown person on a messaging app to hide the gun used to shoot five people outside Melbourne's Love Machine nightclub.

When police searched his house in June 2019, about two months after the shooting, he took officers to a semi-automatic pistol wrapped in a T-shirt under his bedside table.

He told police he had answered a message on encrypted app Wickr from someone he did not know, who offered to pay him $3000 to collect a package and hold it for safekeeping.

READ MORE: 'Terrifying' mid-flight brawl forces Jetstar flight to turn around

But Supreme Court Justice Andrew Tinney rejected this story as "exceedingly far-fetched" as he sentenced Hamka to six years in jail for concealing the weapon used by his friend, Love Machine nightclub shooter Jacob Elliott.

Richard Arow and Aaron Osmani died and three others were injured when Elliott, driven by Allan Fares, fired five shots at the Little Chapel St nightclub in Prahran on April 14, 2019.

The shooting was sparked by club security's decision to eject Elliott's younger brother from the club for poor behaviour.

"These were two murders carried out in heartless and outrageous circumstances in a public display of vengeance," Justice Tinney told the court on Wednesday.

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"This weapon, which you saw fit to hide in your home, was to your knowledge a highly important exhibit keenly sought by the police in connection with the notorious and heinous crimes committed by your friends at Love Machine.

"By your actions, you sought to assist your friends to avoid apprehension, and in doing so, to deliberately frustrate the substantial police investigation you knew to be going on."

Hamka was at Elliott's father, Nabil Maghnie's, Docklands apartment when his son Ali Maghnie visited after being ejected from the nightclub in the early hours of April 14.

While Hamka had no involvement in the shooting, Justice Tinney said he knew of the family's "unhappiness" about Ali's expulsion.

READ MORE: Severe weather warnings for heavy rain and damaging winds issued for Victoria and Tasmania

Elliott and Fares were last month sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murder by a jury in April, who also found Hamka guilty of assisting by concealing the murder weapon.

After the trial Hamka pleaded guilty to an additional charge of being a prohibited person possessing a firearm.

Justice Tinney found Hamka had the murder weapon in his possession for a significant period before his arrest.

"Your crime was a serious one and certainly not a low-level example of the offence," he said.

"The sentence I pass must bring it clearly home to any person who might be minded to provide assistance to others in the aftermath of their serious crimes that such conduct will be met with strong punishment."

One year and one month of pre-sentence detention was included in Hamka's six-year prison term.

He must serve four years before becoming eligible for parole.

headline

Accused swim coach Kyle Daniels' evidence 'unusual', court hears

A Sydney swim coach's apparent inability to recall a key incident related to his alleged sexual touching of children doesn't stack up, a prosecutor has told a jury.

Balgowlah man Kyle James Henk Daniels has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges alleging inappropriate conduct towards young female students while working as a part-time instructor at a Mosman swim school in 2018 and 2019.

After a complaint was made in July 2018 to management about Daniels' touching of a girl during a lesson, a memo was circulated to staff about not holding children close to the groin or chest.

READ MORE: Severe weather warnings issued for Victoria and Tasmania

Daniels returned a signed copy.

But, in evidence this week, the 23-year-old couldn't recall signing the memo or having to change any techniques, crown prosecutor Tony McCarthy said.

It seemed "a little bit unusual" that the swim coach would have no memory of the memo, given it related to a complaint about his conduct.

"This event had to be a significant and meaningful event in his life," McCarthy said in his closing address on Wednesday.

"His assertion that it was too long ago, he had no memory of things that occurred four years ago, doesn't stack up with the evidence."

McCarthy urged the Downing Centre District Court jury to ignore the evidence.

"In short my submission to you is … he was being deliberately evasive, downplaying the situation," the prosecutor said.

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The jury in the trial of Mosman swim teacher Kyle Daniels has been discharged after being unable to reach a verdict.

Daniels is accused of touching the genitalia of female students, then aged six to 10, on the outside of their swimming costumes on 16 occasions. He also faces five charges of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10, related to allegations he penetrated some girls' vaginas with his fingers.

He steadfastly denies ever intentionally touching any student inappropriately.

One of the girls told police she was on her back, using a kickboard and pushing off a platform when Daniels placed his hand on her and his finger pressed into her genitals.

"(His finger) felt like a worm was in her private parts," McCarthy said, recalling the girl's evidence to police.

After the lesson, the girl told her mother Daniels had hurt her and she wanted a different teacher.

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"When you look at (the girl's) interview, you'll be persuaded that (she) is giving an account of personal experience and not something she's just adopted because someone has made a similar complaint before her," the prosecutor said.

The coach was arrested after the swim school received a second complaint of his alleged inappropriate touching in February 2019 and alerted the Department of Family and Community Services, which prompted a police investigation.

The day after Daniels' widely publicised arrest, the swim school emailed parents of its students about the arrest and charges, causing other parents to come forward with complaints about him.

Defence barrister Les Nicholls is expected to give his closing address later this week.