Tag Archives: oceania

Man charged after stealing more than $10,000 worth of alcohol

A Victorian man has been arrested and charged over an alleged alcohol-stealing spree that spanned months.

Police allege the 39-year-old, from Collingwood, stole more $10,000 worth of drinks from a number of businesses in Melbourne's southeast on 22 occasions.

The spree occurred over an 11-month period.

READ MORE: Car driven into school group in Germany

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The man was arrested yesterday and charged with more than 40 offences including theft and committing offences whilst on bail.

He has been remanded in custody and will appear at the Heidelberg Magistrates' Court today.

Teacher dead after car driven into school group in Germany

A man has driven a car into a German school group standing in a popular Berlin shopping district, killing a teacher and seriously injuring nine people, authorities say.

The man drove into people on a street corner about 10.30am (6.30pm AEST) on Wednesday before getting the car back on the road and then crashing into a shop window about a block further on, police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said.

Berlin's top security official, Iris Spranger, said the woman killed at the Kurfuerstendamm shopping boulevard was a teacher on a school trip with students from the central German state of Hesse.

READ MORE: Family's plea to keep 'evil' Frankston serial killer behind bars

Police officers cover a dead body after a car crashed into a crowd of people in central Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Six people sustained life-threatening injuries and another three were seriously injured, fire service spokesman Adrian Wentzel said. Police said 14 students from Hesse were among those who sustained injuries of varying severity, but didn't give a total tally.

American-British actor John Barrowman, who was in a nearby store with his partner at the time of the crash, described the scene as "carnage". Large numbers of police and first responders were at the scene, he said.

The driver was apparently detained by passersby before being arrested swiftly by a police officer who was near the scene, Cablitz said.

He said police were trying to determine whether he deliberately drove into pedestrians or whether it was an accident, possibly caused by a medical emergency.

Police later tweeted that the driver was a 29-year-old German-Armenian who lives in Berlin.

Spranger said posters were found in the man's car "in which he expressed views about Turkey".

In a later interview with regional public broadcaster RBB, Spranger said Germany's domestic intelligence agency had no immediate information on the man and authorities were still checking whether he was previously known to police. She said the driver was in a hospital, "because we must of course immediately clarify whether he is ill, whether he took drugs and so on."

"We can't rule anything out at the moment … but there is no claim of responsibility," Spranger said.

Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey tweeted that she was "deeply shocked by this incident."

Giffey said the crash brought "terrible memories" of a truck attack on a Christmas market at the nearby Breitscheidplatz square. An Islamic extremist drove into a Christmas market in 2016, resulting in 13 deaths.

In a 2019 incident in central Berlin, an SUV ploughed into a group of pedestrians, killing four people.

In that incident, the driver had suffered an epileptic seizure and veered onto the sidewalk.

A memorial service for the people killed or hurt in Wednesday's crash was held in the evening at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on the Breitscheidplatz, next to the scene of the crash.

Protesters gather outside parliament to rally against wild brumby cull

Protesters have gathered on the steps Victorian parliament today, demanding the state government to stop culling wild brumbies.

The Victorian opposition has pledged a management plan focused on re-homing the horses if they're elected.

However, Parks Victoria says the brumbies are causing environmental damage.

READ MORE: Family's plea to keep 'evil' Frankston serial killer behind bars

Protester Leigh Allen said more needed to be done to protect the horses.

"These are horses that saved our country," Allen said.

Nationals leader Peter Walsh said he would outline a proposed plan to manage the animals.

"There are communities there who want to work with the government, with Parks Victoria, to manage the population, to have a sustainable population," he said.

"Why does the government have to go out and shoot them all?"

In 2019, the estimated number of feral horses in the Victorian alpine region was about 5000.

Chris Dawson's twin brother gives evidence at murder trial

Chris Dawson's identical twin brother has begun giving evidence at his sibling's murder trial.

Paul Dawson didn't appear at the Supreme Court in person but instead gave his evidence via video link from Tweed Heads Police Station.

He claimed both his brother and sister-in-law Lynette were hopeful about their marriage at the end of 1981, which was not long before Chris is accused of killing her.

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Paul Dawson (left) and wife Marilyn Dawson (right).

"Chris was being very positive towards it… I spoke to Lyn on Christmas Day, they were both looking forward to the future," he said.

Chris Dawson has pleaded not guilty to murder, insisting his wife left of her own free will in January 1982 and never returned.

Paul's wife Marilyn Dawson was also called as a witness today, admitting she was concerned by her brother-in-law's affair with his teenage babysitter, known as "JC".

She described Chris and Lynette's marriage as "very shaky" and said she once urged Lyn to "be strong and stay in her own home if she wanted to show that she loved her children and her home and her husband".

READ MORE: Camera attached to shark species shows how predators hunt

Marilyn Dawson wiped away tears as the judge was played phone taps where she described Lynette as cruel and lacking gumption for running away.

But she painted a different picture of the mother-of-two while being questioned.

"She was a loving mum, she was attentive, she did go back to work but she was very happy to be a mum," Marilyn said.

Marilyn was asked how many times Lynette had ever gone away without her children and she replied: "I don't think there were any times."

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Chris Dawson (right) arriving at the Supreme Court Wednesday June 8.

She recalled a conversation in 1982 at Bayview with Chris and JC when he said Lyn was missing.

Sometime later, Marilyn was told "religious people had come to the house and he (Chris) wondered if she had gone to a retreat".

In a surprise development, the Crown revealed new witnesses have come forward since the trial began a month ago.

A large bundle of potential evidence is now in the hands of the judge, who will decide if it can be used.

Paul Dawson will return to the witness box tomorrow.

Teen jailed for six years for manslaughter of pregnant couple in crash

A teen who took the lives of a Brisbane couple and their unborn baby has been sentenced to six years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter in court.

The court heard the then 17-year-old had been high and drunk when he hit Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter in a stolen car on Australia Day last year.

The teen, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been travelling at 100km/h when he hit a truck, catapulting into the couple as they were walking their dogs in Alexandra Hills.

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Field and Leadbetter, pregnant at the time and due to be married, were killed instantly.

The young driver then fled the scene.

He later registered an alcohol reading of 0.151 and was found to have cannabis in his system.

He was found with $5700 in cash and was later revealed to have a criminal history, including traffic infringements and property crimes.

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The teenager's 10-year manslaughter sentence was reduced to six years by the judge, who took into account the teen's troubled upbringing, age, history with drugs and alcohol and the remorse expressed for the incident.

He has been sentenced as a minor, meaning the 18-year-old will be released from prison in four and a half years.

READ MORE: Camera attached to shark species shows how predators hunt

The teenager sat still and showed little emotion as the sentence was handed down.

But the family and friends of the young couple gasped and cried as the sentence was delivered.

In victim impact statements read yesterday, Leadbetter's mother, Jeannie Thorne said: "I shouldn't be here today, how is it possible that I'm here when I should be in my other life, the one that's been ripped away?

"I should be holding her baby boy and I should have a future filled with joy and family."

Other victim statements from the family said they were all already serving life sentences without their loved ones.

READ MORE: Australia's inflation lower than most in OECD but worst is yet to come

Family's plea to keep 'evil' Frankston serial killer behind bars

It's almost 30 years since his sister was murdered in cold blood by the Frankston serial killer – and now Troy Fream is finally ready to tell his side of the story.

Paul Denyer, 50, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but was later appealed and reduced to a non-parole period of 30 years, meaning he is eligible for release in 2023.

In 1993, Denyer murdered Natalie Russell, Elizabeth Stevens and Deborah Fream, also known as Debbie, in the Frankston area.

READ MORE: Man and woman on the run after dramatic crash in Melbourne's west

Stevens, 18, was murdered by Denyer after she got off a bus on her way home from the library on June 11.

On July 8, Seaford mother, Fream was killed when she was ambushed by Denyer in her car.

A fortnight later Natalie, 17, was murdered as she walked home from school.

Debbie's brother Troy is now speaking out to ensure Denyer is not released on parole.

"She was close with everybody, she was my protector at school she was my older sister," he told 9News.

"Our family members are buried under the ground, covered in dirt and this dirt bag walks out a cell."

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Almost 30 years later, Denyer who now identifies as Paula, is creeping closer to a chance at freedom.

"I really feel sorry if he is released, people will live in fear again," Fream said.

Dubbed the Frankston serial killer, the 51-year-old will next year be eligible for parole.

"It has destroyed every moment where you should be happy," Fream said.

"It has devastated us and we are not the only family."

Family and friends of the women have been vocal regarding the Denyer's upcoming possible release.

Last year, they rallied outside state parliament.

READ MORE: Melbourne business thrives from Dan Andrews 'Get on the beers' t-shirt

Paul Charles Denyer

Russell's former boyfriend and now Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick said more needed to be done to ensure Denyer wasn't released.

"What we are asking for is some sort of reassurance from the government that he will never be able to harm another woman," Limbrick said.

"We need the government to take some sort of action here."

A petition calling for Denyer to be kept behind bars has gathered almost 30,000 signatures in six months.

Petition creator and former friend of Stevens said it was incredibly important to get as many signatures as possible.

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"Every few years now when his parole hearing comes back up," he said.

"That's just going to to bring up memories again for the families and friends.

"It's just something they shouldn't have to go through themselves."

The attorney-general said it was a matter for the independent Adult Parole Board.

The board said it was not allowed to comment.

"He's an evil man and he doesn't belong in the public," Fream said.

PM confirms review of controversial Darwin port lease

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed a review into the decision to lease the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company will go ahead.

During this year's federal election campaign, Albanese criticised the controversial 2015 lease of the port to Landbridge for $506 million.

The former Morrison government last year ordered a Defence Department review into the matter but it determined there were insufficient national security grounds to scrap the lease.

READ MORE: Albanese calls for transparency on any Chinese plans for Cambodian military base

But Albanese, speaking in Darwin alongside NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, indicated a new review would be held.

"What I've said is what I said prior to the election. I will do what I said I will do. We will have a review of the circumstances of the port," he said.

"The chief minister is conscious of the fact that we will do that."

The former NT government's decision seven years ago to lease the port to China's Landbridge in a 99-year deal sparked concerns in Australia and overseas because it gave operational control of the strategic port to a foreign company.

Among the experts who raised concerns was Charles Sturt University Professor of public ethics Clive Hamilton.

"Any Chinese company, if instructed by Beijing, must engage in spying or other nefarious activity," he said last year.

"Landbridge will have no choice."

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The agreement was struck as diplomatic relations between Canberra and Beijing began to freeze.

The US, which deploys hundreds of troops to Darwin every year, was also unhappy about the deal.

The then-president Barack Obama expressed US concerns to the prime minister at the time, Malcolm Turnbull.