Tag Archives: oceania

Mates give chase after intersection mayhem

Two best friends have been credited with helping police catch an alleged thief after she nearly crashed into them on a Sunshine Coast street.

Police allege Rachael Paterson, 51, was behind the wheel of a Hilux and was wanted for stealing and other property offences when she sped through Caboolture.

Police helicopters were tracking the 51-year-old's movements when she allegedly side-swiped a Mazda and fled the scene.

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Crystal Kondor and Breanah Chessells were inside the Mazda.

The pair said they were forced to swerve, colliding with another vehicle as they tried to avoid a head-on crash with the Hilux.

"I was about halfway through the intersection and I've looked right and I've seen this four-wheel drive coming at me, felt like 80km/h," Chessells said.

"There were kids in that car we hit."

The pair were left injured and confused after the crash, but immediately leapt into action, tracking Paterson for more than five minutes until police arrived.

"She doesn't stop, so I was like I can't let you get away with this," Chessells said.

Even if police hadn't arrived, Chessells said she wouldn't have let the woman escape.

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"I would have tackled her to the ground and held her there and told her [Kondor] to call the police," she said.

Paterson was denied bail and remanded in custody after appearing in Caboolture court.

The court heard she poses a serious risk to the community if released.

Chessells said her car had been seized by police, leaving her unable to get to work or drive her child to school.

"I just didn't want her to get away with it because she ruined my life," Chessells said.

"It was really traumatising."

Man attacked with tyre lever for gambling winnings in Adelaide

A man was almost robbed of thousands of dollars in gambling winnings after accepting a lift home from an Adelaide pub.

Police said the victim had won "several thousand dollars" on the pokies at a North Terrace hotel, when another man offered to give him a lift, at about 3.30am on August 6.

But when they were travelling through Windsor Gardens, police allege, the man stopped the car and hit the victim several times with a tyre lever, demanding the money.

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Adelaide gambling robberyAdelaide gambling robbery

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The victim managed to escape on foot with his winnings, police say.

Police area searching for a man with brown hair and a beard.

They appealed for any information on him or the black Ford Ranger driven from the scene.

Former judge fined over crash that injured delivery driver

A former South Australian coroner and judge has been fined over a car crash that injured a delivery driver so badly he had both his legs amputated.

In December last year, Wayne Chivell stopped at a red light on Anzac Highway at Plympton in Adelaide and got out of the car to speak to the driver of the car in front.

He told the other man the back doors of his truck were open.

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Wayne Chivell crash Plympton Adelaide https://twitter.com/ainsleykoch/status/1560441596042424320

But when Chivell got back into his car he accidentally hit the accelerator and pinned the truck driver against the back of his vehicle.

The 66-year-old delivery driver suffered such catastrophic injuries that both his legs had to be amputated below the knee.

The magistrate accepted Chivell was remorseful and disqualified him from driving for nine months. He was also fined $900.

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Wayne Chivell crash Plympton Adelaide

Outside court the former state coroner said he hopes to apologise to the victim in person one day.

"I'm very, very conscious of the pain and suffering that I have caused to him and his family," Chivell said.

"It's something I very deeply regret."

NT five-year-old Grace Hughes found, 'in good health'

Police in the Northern Territory have found a five-year-old who has been missing since August 11.

Grace Hughes is receiving a medical check but is "physically in good health".

She was handed in to police in Darwin at about 10am ACST, Detective Superintendent Kirsten Engels confirmed this afternoon.

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https://twitter.com/OLathouris_9/status/1560483625606324226

Grace disappeared from Berrimah, in Darwin.

The little girl was abducted after a supervised parental visit, police alleged.

A multi-agency task force had been set up to manage the investigation into Grace's disappearance.

Grace's mother Laura Hinks is now assisting police with their inquiries.

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Engels said "many people" were assisting with inquiries.

"We're still building a fuller picture of what's happened in the past 13 days," she said.

"We believe that a person connected to the group that's taken responsibility for the alleged abduction and concealment of Grace has handed her in."

Engels said police would examine the need for further charges to be laid in days to come.

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New flood warning system coming to roll out nationally

After a chorus of calls to re-vamp Australia's emergency responses in flood disasters, a new national warning system is coming.

The New South Wales State Emergency Service will transition to the new system on September 30, after it's unveiled next month.

The Australian Warning System is a national three-tiered warning framework which will cover all emergency services organisations and all hazards.

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The new NSW SES tiers of warning for floods will be:

  1. Stay informed;
  2. Prepare to evacuate; and
  3. Move to higher ground.

Warnings during storms, floods and tsunamis will continue to be distributed through the NSW SES website, NSW SES social media channels and local ABC radio stations.

NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said the new approach to warnings will better support communities by providing them with greater clarity.

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Maritime NSW cleans up after floodwaters on Hawkesbury River

"Early warnings save lives. Our new warnings will contain very clear action statements to enable the community to make safe decisions," York said.

The NSW SES's new tiers of warning will provide greater consistency as all states and territories gradually transition to the Australian Warning System.

This will help tourists and travellers prepare for potentially dangerous situations while interstate.

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It comes after the NSW government handed down its flood inquiry report earlier this week.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the state government would accept all of the 28 key recommendations put forward, including the implementation of a disaster prevention authority, in an effort to overhaul the previous disaster response.