Tag Archives: oceania

‘Monster’ who killed Molly Ticehurst to learn fate after pleading guilty

2025-12-12 FreeNews

Molly Ticehurst's killer will finally be forced to face her family in person when he is sentenced for her murder more than two years after he broke into her bedroom and stabbed her.

Daniel Billings, 30, was arraigned in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney today and confirmed his plea of guilty over Ticehurst's 2024 murder.

"Guilty, Your Honour," Billings told Justice Dina Yehia via audio-visual link from the supermax wing of Goulburn jail.

Molly Ticehurst and Daniel Billings.

The judge set a two-day sentence hearing to be held in Orange, central western NSW, on June 1, 2026.

He will be required to appear in person.

Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead in her home at Forbes, in the state's central west, in the early hours of April 22, 2024.

Billings stabbed her 15 times in a ferocious attack that lasted less than a minute, after repeatedly threatening to kill her in the weeks and months before.

Police had taken out a provisional apprehended violence order against Billings.

He had been charged with several counts of raping Ticehurst and a string of domestic violence offences on April 5, 2024, but was freed on bail by a local court registrar the next day.

Violent and possessive during their on-and-off relationship, Billings became enraged after being charged and was angry to be branded a rapist, according to an agreed statement of facts.

In a folder of scrawled notes discovered by police after the murder, Billings wrote a declaration in green text: "Innocent!!!"

Another note said: "Make me out to be a monster, treat me like an animal, then OK, I'm going to play the f—ing part."

Ticehurst Funeral

When police arrested an agitated Billings at a friend's house hours after the murder, he admitted killing Ticehurst.

"I'd just been arrested over word-of-mouth and I think that's when I just snapped," he told an officer.

"I'm going to get treated like a monster … I'll play the monster in the story then."

Those sexual assault charges were withdrawn and dismissed when Billings pleaded guilty to murder at Forbes Local Court on November 14.

The local court case took 18 months to proceed, with lengthy legal negotiations, a mental health assessment and repeated adjournments.

Despite those delays Billings may still be eligible for a sentence discount of up to 25 per cent, as a guilty plea in the local court is considered an early plea under NSW law.

However, the sentencing judge may opt not apply a discount if Billings' culpability is found to be extreme.

When the case was adjourned for the final time before the pleas, Ticehurst's father Tony Ticehurst said the legal delays had caused their family deep distress.

"It seems to me that in life, the system let Molly down and in death continues the same route," he told reporters in Forbes.

"Instead of getting closure, all we get is anxiety, sadness and heartache."

Billings has also admitted property damage and animal cruelty offences, along with a charge of breaching the apprehended violence order.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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Man dies after becoming stuck in mud at Logan boat ramp

2025-12-12 FreeNews

A man has died in hospital after becoming stuck in mud at a boat ramp in Logan this morning.

Emergency services were called to Logan Boat Ramp on Albert Street at Waterford at 12.30am overnight and found the man stuck in the mud.

The 34-year-old from Tanah Merah was freed and taken to shore.

Paramedics treated him at the scene and he was taken to Logan Hospital but died shortly afterwards.

Police say their investigation into the man's death is ongoing.

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Idyllic tourist hotspot introduces the death penalty for a common offence

2025-12-12 FreeNews

Australians are being warned about travelling to an incredibly popular tourist hotspot after the local government expanded the death penalty.

The Maldives will introduce harsher penalties for drug offences from March 2026, including death, life without parole and fines.

While drug offences are relatively common in Australia, SmartTraveller said that anyone caught with even a small amount of illegal drugs in the Maldives could be charged with trafficking.

NH Collection Maldives Reethi Resort – Baa Atoll, MaldivesAnticipated Opening: 18 December 2025

This includes weed or cannabis-based products like edibles, cannabis oil and cream, hemp, hash, CBD and THC.

A medical prescription does not make it legal.

"If you take such products to Maldives, purchase or use them in Maldives, you can be arrested and face imprisonment, fines, deportation, life without parole or the death penalty," SmartTraveller said.

"Do not possess or use illegal drugs in Maldives."

Drug-related crime typically occurs in urban areas, including Greater Malé and inhabited non-resort islands.

Republic of the Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said the harsher rules would crack down on drug use and addiction.

"One of the most important goals of this government is to save society from the scourge of drugs and build a generation free from drugs," he said in a statement in July.

But his decision has drawn ire from international human rights organisations, which say the death penalty violates human rights and the country's international commitments on two grounds: introducing the death penalty for a crime not previously punishable by death and restricting the death penalty for the most serious crimes.

"The introduction of the death penalty for drug-related offences would lead to additional violations to the already alarming human rights record of the Maldives, including in connection to its use of the death penalty," nine human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said in a joint statement in August.

The Maldives also has the death penalty for serious crimes such as murder.

amber sherlock club med kani maldives family holiday

The Maldives is an archipelagic country consisting of more than 1000 islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India.

It is famed for its idyllic resorts and is particularly popular among honeymooners.

But the current civil unrest and threat of terrorism in non-resort areas have SmartTraveller advising Australians to exercise an overall high degree of caution when travelling to the country.

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The Christmas toys emergency doctors don’t want you to buy for children

2025-12-12 FreeNews

Emergency department doctors are urging parents to avoid a "naughty list" of presents for children this Christmas.

E-scooters and toys containing magnets and button batteries are among the most hazardous, doctors from The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne warn.

While they may seem like great gifts, trauma surgeons say they can pose a serious safety risk in the hands of young kids.

Button batteries are often found in small toys or car keys, and are easily swallowed by a child.

The director of trauma at the RCH, Warwick Teague, says they can cause serious harm in just two hours.

"A button battery creates a chemical reaction and electrical charge between the walls of a child's oesophagus or swallowing tube, which can fry that tube, causing serious bleeding," he said.

Teague says other small items such as magnetic balls, often found in construction or sensory toys, can also be easily swallowed.

"Unfortunately, they're the perfect size and shape for a little one to put in their mouth. If swallowed, sometimes the magnets in these balls stick together inside children, twisting and causing holes or tears in the bowel," he said.

"They can make children dangerously sick and they're really difficult to remove."

e-bikes in a row

Doctors are also warning parents to avoid e-scooters, pointing to a spike in serious injuries, such as broken bones, every Christmas from children riding the machines.

They should ensure toys meet Australian Safety standards and avoid buying cheap products sold in variety stores or online.

If you think your child has ingested a button battery or a magnet, call triple zero immediately, or head to your closest emergency department.

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Time magazine names ‘Architects of AI’ as its person of the year for 2025

2025-12-12 FreeNews

The "Architects of AI" have been named Time magazine's person of the year with the publication citing 2025 as when the potential of Artificial Intelligence "roared into view" with no turning back.

"For delivering the age of thinking machines, for wowing and worrying humanity, for transforming the present and transcending the possible, the Architects of AI are TIME's 2025 Person of the Year," Time said in a social media post on Thursday (Friday AEDT).

The magazine was deliberate in selecting people – the "individuals who imagined, designed, and built AI" – rather than the technology itself, though there would have been some precedent for that.

"We've named not just individuals but also groups, more women than our founders could have imagined (though still not enough), and, on rare occasions, a concept: the endangered Earth, in 1988, or the personal computer, in 1982," wrote Sam Jacobs, the editor-in-chief, in an explanation of the choice.

"The drama surrounding the selection of the PC over Apple's Steve Jobs later became the stuff of books and a movie."

One of the cover images resembling the "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photograph from the 1930s shows eight tech leaders sitting on the beam: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the CEO of Google's DeepMind division Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, who launched her own start up World Labs last year.

Another cover image shows scaffolding surrounding the giant letters "AI" made to look like computer componentry.

Five of the eight people selected — Musk, Zuckerberg, Huang, Altman and Su — are already billionaires with a collective fortune of $US870 billion, based on the latest estimates compiled by Forbes magazine. Much of the wealth has been accumulated during the past three years of AI fever.

It made sense for Time to anoint AI because 2025 was the year that it shifted from "a novel technology explored by early adopters to one where a critical mass of consumers see it as part of their mainstream lives," Thomas Husson, principal analyst at research firm Forrester, said by email.

The magazine noted AI company CEOs' attendance at US President Donald Trump's inauguration this year in Washington DC as a herald for the prominence of the sector.

"This was the year when artificial intelligence's full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back or opting out," Jacobs wrote.

AI was a leading contender for the top slot, according to prediction markets, along with Huang and Altman. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope whose election this year followed the death of Pope Francis, was also considered a contender, with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani topping lists as well.

The magazine's selection dates from 1927, when its editors have picked the person they say most shaped headlines over the previous 12 months.

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Three teens charged over Sydney shopping centre brawl

2025-12-12 FreeNews

Three teens have been charged and more arrests are expected after a brawl at Broadway Shopping Centre in Sydney.

Police were called to the centre on Bay Street in Glebe at about 5.50pm on Wednesday.

They were told a group of teens had confronted another boy in the food court before an argument broke out.

The group began to throw chairs at the boy, some of which fell to a lower level of the shopping centre.

Video footage captured at the scene appeared to show the teens also targeting other shoppers, with a woman on an escalator seemingly struck by a hurled stool.

The group of teens and the boy they initially confronted fled the scene before police arrived, and no injuries were reported.

Following an investigation, police arrested three teenage boys yesterday.

A 16-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys were charged with affray, while one of the 15-year-olds was also charged with breaching bail.

All three were refused bail and will appear in court today.

Police say the investigation continues and further arrests are expected.

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Hundreds of artefacts stolen from Bristol Museum

2025-12-12 FreeNews

Hundreds of artefacts have been stolen from a major British museum in a heist just weeks before the high-profile theft at the Louvre in Paris.

Police in England revealed overnight that more than 600 artefacts relating to the British Empire and Commonwealth had been taken from Bristol Museum's collection.

Avon and Somerset Police released CCTV images of four men they want to speak to.

They said the items were taken from a building in the Cumberland Road area of Bristol, about 190 kilometres west of London, between 1 and 2am on Thursday, September 25.

It wasn't clear why police were only now appealing for help from the public.

"The theft of many items which carry a significant cultural value is a significant loss for the city," officer in charge of the case Detective Constable Dan Burgan said.

"These items, many of which were donations, form part of a collection that provides insight into a multi-layered part of British history, and we are hoping that members of the public can help us to bring those responsible to justice.

"So far, our enquiries have included significant CCTV enquiries as well as forensic investigations and speaking liaising with the victims."

The heist at the Louvre on October 19 sparked global headlines about the world's most famous museum, with thieves making off with eight pieces from France's Crown Jewels worth about $157 million.

It is not known what the value is of the items stolen from Bristol Museum.

The port city of Bristol played a major role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Ships based in the city transported at least half a million Africans into slavery before Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807. Many 18th-century Bristolians helped fund the trade and shared in the profits, which also built handsome Georgian houses and buildings that still dot the city.

It was the focus of international attention and debate in 2020, when anti-racism demonstrators toppled a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston from its plinth in the city and dumped it in the River Avon.

The vandalised statue was later fished out and put on display in a museum.

– Additional reporting by the Associated Press

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Mum of teen charged with dangerous driving that left woman fighting for life apologises

2025-12-11 FreeNews

The mother of the teenager charged after a police chase that left an innocent woman fighting for life has apologised following her son's court appearance.

Police said the 17-year-old boy, who was on bail, reached speeds of 140km/h during a pursuit before colliding with another car in Sydney's south-west last night.

One of the women who was in the other vehicle is unlikely to survive, a court was told.

A 17-year-old boy is alleged to have been the driver of the stolen ute involved in a serious crash in Liverpool, south-west Sydney.

"I'm very, very sorry, very sorry," the child's mother said as she left the courthouse.

"Terrible, words can't explain it."

The pursuit began about 11pm when police in Liverpool saw a Ford Ranger ute allegedly speeding and running a red light on Elizabeth Drive.

The ute was allegedly stolen from the Liverpool area on December 9.

Police said the pursuit began when the ute refused to stop, but was terminated moments later due to safety concerns.

It is alleged the boy then attempted to reverse into police, resulting in the pursuit resuming.

The ute allegedly drove through another red light and collided with a BMW sedan and a Toyota Yaris hatchback at the intersection of the Hume Highway and Moore Street.

Three women were injured, one critically after the crash in Liverpool, south-west Sydney.

A passenger of the BMW, a 21-year-old woman, was taken to Liverpool Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The driver, also a 21-year-old female, and another female passenger were hospitalised with serious injuries.

"Pretty horrific. I thought there was almost certainly a fatality, but as I understand it, they're in critical condition, but yeah, there was glass everywhere on the other side of the street," a witness told 9News.

The 28-year-old woman driving the Toyota was checked at hospital as a precaution and later released.

Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden said the actions of the 17-year-old boy were reckless.

"There's absolutely no suggestion other than his actions are dangerous," he said.

"It's absolutely abhorrent that he continues that behaviour and reverses into a police vehicle as a sign of defiance and anti-social."

The boy was arrested and taken to Fairfield Hospital as a precaution.

He was later taken to Liverpool Police Station and charged with eight offences: two counts of aggravated dangerous driving, causing grievous bodily harm, escaping pursuit, driving unlicenced, breaching bail, and two counts of causing bodily harm by misconduct.

The teen was charged with eight offences.

A critical incident has been declared, with an independent review to be conducted into the police's decision to resume the pursuit.

McFadden insisted the charged boy was responsible for the injuries to the three women and not the police who pursued him.

"We are looking at limited information … but we do know there was changing behaviour in the driver," he said.

"The family of these three women, it is tragic they have had to experience this, but the injuries are a result of a 17-year-old male who is currently in custody.

"These are innocent members of the community who are caught up in the reckless actions of a 17-year-old, it's something we are trying to prevent."

The boy was refused bail and will reappear in court next week.

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Skydiver’s narrow escape after parachute deployed early

2025-12-11 FreeNews

Quick thinking and a hook knife prevented a disaster in Far North Queensland after a skydiver's parachute became stuck on the tail of a light plane.

A pilot and 17 skydivers were on board a Cessna Caravan flying over Tully Airport, about 142 kilometres south of Cairns, on September 20, when the first parachutist's reserve chute accidentally deployed, dragging them backwards and getting caught on the plane's horizontal stabiliser.

Investigations found the parachute had snagged on the plane's wing flap.

The pilot was initially unaware a skydiver had become caught on the plane in Tully, Queensland, according to the ATSB final report.

The tail of the plane was damaged and the skydiver became caught and suspended just below the aircraft.

According to the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) final report, 13 of the skydivers were able to safely disembark, while two stayed on the plane and watched the snagged skydiver use a hook knife to cut 11 lines from the chute.

This allowed the remaining parachute to tear, freeing them and subsequently allowing their main parachute to inflate.

The skydiver landed safely, only suffering minor injuries.

The pilot was unaware the skydiver was caught on the plane, initially believing the aircraft had stalled, so they increased power.

Investigators said the incident was a reminder for skydivers to be aware of their surroundings before jumping out of a plane. This comes after a skydiver had a narrow escape in Tully, Queensland when his parachute got caught in the tail of a plane.

However, he had to act quickly when they realised the gravity of the situation.

"Upon being told there was a skydiver hung up on the tailplane, they reduced power again," ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.

Once the skydiver was freed from the aircraft, the pilot was able to gradually and safely descend.

The pilot was wearing an emergency parachute, and was prepared to bail out should the situation have required it.

The skydiver was eventually able to cut himself free, but the ATSB had a warning despite no major injuries being recorded in the incident in Tully, Queensland.

Mitchell said the incident was a reminder of skydivers to be aware of their surroundings.

The final report also found the aircraft was not loaded properly, though it clarified that was not a cause of the accident.

Mitchell said this finding should not be ignored, due to previous serious accidents from such an oversight.

"Fatal parachuting accidents have occurred in the past due to aircraft being loaded outside centre of gravity limits, which highlights the importance of conducting aircraft weight and balance calculations prior to each load," he said.

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Man critically wounded, another arrested after shooting in Victorian beach town

2025-12-11 FreeNews

An investigation into a shooting is under way after a man arrived at a medical clinic with a suspected gunshot wound on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula.

The man presented with what appeared to be a gunshot injury at a doctor's office on Nelson Road in Point Lonsdale about 10.30am today.

The 37-year-old man was treated by paramedics at the scene before being airlifted to the Alfred Hospital.

Shooting at Point Lonsdale

He is being treated for an upper body injury and remains in a critical condition.

Police then attended a property on Gill Road and arrested a 55-year-old man a short time later.

He will be interviewed by police over the alleged shooting.

No charges have been laid.

It is understood the two men are known to each other.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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