VICTORIA'S POLICE GOONS

They are a disgrace. The won't touch you if you are a Muslim but all others are fair game. Three current reports below

Violent assault of a disability pensioner by a senior police officer inside a station

And despite all the fine words from the police about the case, he was not fired!

Footage has emerged of the violent moment a disability pensioner was assaulted by a senior police officer inside a station.

Despite damning CCTV vision, senior constable Michael Cooke managed to retain his position within Victoria Police and avoided conviction following the attack.

He was suspended with pay for 12 months as police conducted an internal investigation, the ABC revealed.

Pensioner Phil Dickson, who was 62 at the time of the attack, initially thought his broken knuckles and torn ligament in his shoulder were the results of a drunken fall. 

'I could have been dead and I'm sure nobody would have asked, "Is there any CCTV footage about that?",' he told the ABC.  

He was being held inside the station after being arrested for drink driving and assaulting a police officer, charges he later pleaded guilty to. 

Medical records from the night of January 11, 2013, revealed Dickson had hit his head after being physically restrained inside his cell for being too intoxicated. 

But Legal Aid fought for access to CCTV footage due to the extent of Mr Dickson's injuries. The video showed constable Cooke grabbing Mr Dickson by the scruff of his neck before throwing him to the ground. He was also made to remove his belt from his pants, causing them to fall to the floor. 

Blood spatters were visible on the floor and paramedics were called.

Cooke was charged with common law assault in 2015 and pleaded guilty at Geelong Magistrates' Court. He was fined $500 and placed on a 12 month good behaviour bond without conviction. 

Following the verdict, Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia an internal investigation was also conducted and he was charged with a discipline offence relating to the assault. 

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said they do not condone Cooke's actions. 'The community has every right to expect to be treated in a fair and professional manner when dealing with police. In the 2013 incident, this clearly did not happen,' she said. 'Make no mistake, this is not the manner in which we expect our officers to behave. We do not condone violence.'

'That is why the incident was thoroughly investigated by Professional Standards Command and the officer was charged with the criminal offence of recklessly cause injury.    

The spokesperson said there was 'no doubt the CCTV footage was confronting', but stressed it was important to consider a range of factors before 'making a decision about an officer's ongoing employment.'   

'After considering all of these matters a 12-month good behaviour bond, in line with the court decision, was determined appropriate internal disciplinary action.'

The officer resigned from Victoria Police in January 2018.

'The community should be assured that Victoria Police is committed to continually improving our internal processes for investigating complaints against its officers.'

'Since 2013 a number of new processes have been introduced, including an independent hearing officer (non-Victoria Police) overseeing all internal disciplinary matters and IBAC oversights complaints investigated by Victoria Police.' 

<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6613497/Disability-pensioner-assaulted-police-officer-inside-station.html">SOURCE</a>  

Arrested for someone else’s crime, a teen was left badly injured by the police

After police issued a suspect alert for an Aboriginal man who'd stolen a car, 18-year-old indigenous man Tommy Lovett - who was on his way to his grandma's house - was wrongly arrested. By the time his mother found out, Tommy was in hospital.

Even before the skinny Indigenous teenager was handcuffed and hurled into a fence, at least six police officers were worried an innocent man had been arrested.

The man wanted for stealing a vehicle and ramming it into a police car was, according to a description issued over police radio, a 40-year-old Aboriginal with a goatee.

The teenager splayed out on a pavement in Heidelberg on the morning of April 5, 2016, was also dark skinned. But he was only 18, with a baby face and no facial hair. Tommy Lovett had also committed no crime – moments before his arrest he had been riding his scooter to his grandma’s house.

But by the time officers were directed to continue the search for the actual suspect, Lovett’s body was bruised, grazed and bleeding. A neighbour would later recall hearing him quietly sobbing on the footpath.

Within hours, his mother, Doreen, would allege her son’s arrest was the result of racism and that he had been treated brutally by detectives. Police vehemently denied the claims and an internal investigation found nothing wrong with Lovett’s arrest.

Yet The Age has uncovered diary notes and statements from officers at the scene that raise serious questions about the official police version of events and Lovett’s handling by detectives. Among the files is a hand-scrawled diary note by a policeman who observed Lovett’s treatment and described the incident as “disturbing to say the least".

Lovett’s case, along with several others uncovered by a joint Age-7.30 Report investigation, is set to reignite the debate about whether Victoria Police is capable of investigating its own. Also under scrutiny is the Andrews government’s delay in introducing police oversight reforms backed by a joint parliamentary committee, the state’s police watchdog and much of Victoria’s legal sector.

Doreen Lovett knew something was terribly wrong when police told her that her son Tommy had been arrested but was not in a police cell. He was in hospital.

Ms Lovett, a local Indigenous leader in Melbourne who works in Victoria’s criminal justice sector, raced to the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg to discover her son shaken and in pain. A doctor’s report of his injuries describes deep bruising and cuts over his body, swelling and abrasions on his forehead and prominent welts surrounding his eyes and cheeks. A gash on Lovett’s wrist had to be stitched up.

Lovett told his mother he had been scooting towards his grandma’s house when a plain-clothes detective emerged from the home and barked at Lovett to stop.

Lovett says the detective had a reputation among the local Indigenous community as a policeman to be avoided, so he scooted around the corner towards a police van and two uniform officers. They were searching for the 40-year-old, goatee-wearing suspect.

In a statement written after the incident, one of the policemen in the van, Constable K, describes Lovett seeking help from police.

“He stopped slightly behind our vehicle and in a loud voice asked if we can take him back to his … grandma's," K wrote. “The male that stopped appeared to be young, of Aboriginal descent and looked somewhat distressed."

From a distance of about 50 metres, the plain-clothes detective yelled at the uniform officers to arrest Lovett. He would later insist he believed Lovett was the wanted car thief and he had visited Lovett’s grandma’s house because it was frequented by men who fitted the suspect's description.

Other police officers were not so certain. Five other officers who attended the scene later wrote that they believed Lovett was “not the offender we were looking for". A sixth policeman, who handcuffed Lovett, later wrote that he “was not sure why I was being directed to arrest this male as he did not match the description for the offender".

Lovett was also confused. As he was cuffed, he asked why he was being detained. He also remembers being scared, especially as the first detective raced towards him. Lovett feared a beating.

Constable K wrote in his statement that Lovett was initially “not aggressive" but became “agitated due to the handcuffs", which were cutting into his wrist.

The arrival of the plain-clothes detective also prompted a reaction in Lovett. He “became very resistive once the detective came up to him and targeted his head and neck. The detective had put his right arm into the jaw/neck area of the male and virtually took over from [the second arresting officer] Senior Constable R."

Soon, two more plain-clothes detectives arrived at the scene, crowding over Lovett, who was “screaming" about being in pain. In his statement, Constable K noted the physical disparity between Lovett and the three detectives: Lovett “was a skinny handcuffed male that myself and SC R had easily controlled before".

Lovett’s insulting of the first detective, said the constable, “caused a reaction".

“The detective decided to grab the young male by the upper part of the body and do something I’m not sure what. As a result the male’s head was pushed into the timber plank and then further down towards the ground at which stage the two other detectives decided to engage and assist the detective. I did not see how or if the young male resisted in any way and did not see it necessary in any way to use force."

K’s colleague, Constable R, said in his statement that after Lovett “called the detective an idiot … the detective … then picked [Lovett] up by his upper body and with the aid of both other detectives, threw [Lovett] into a brown wooden fence". (A third policeman wrote an almost identical description of Lovett being thrown into a fence in his own statement.)

In the first detective’s statement, he justifies Lovett’s handling after he was handcuffed because of what he claimed was the 18-year-old's “potential for violence" (Lovett had previously been charged by police for assault but has never been convicted for any crime.)

All three detectives described Lovett in their own statements as acting violently and spitting at them near the end of his ordeal, which led to Lovett being capsicum sprayed. Lovett admits spitting, but claims he did so because his mouth was filled with blood.

He also alleges further humiliation – a policeman using water from a dog bowl to wash the capsicum spray from his face. (A police spokesperson said it was not known if police “put the water into a bowl to provide this after-care".)

Next, Lovett was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting police. For months, the arrest and the charges loomed over Lovett. Doreen Lovett recalls her son withdrawing. “He stopped going out," she says softly. “And he stopped smiling."

Lovett might have been convicted if his Aboriginal Legal Service lawyer didn’t press police to hand over the diary entries and statements from all of the police at the scene. At first, police stalled in doing so. Then, unexpectedly in early 2017 after a magistrate ordered police to produce all files about the arrest, police told Lovett his charges would be withdrawn.

The teenager, who had been arrested for someone else’s crime only to face possible jail time for allegedly assaulting police, was suddenly told he had no case to answer.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/arrested-for-someone-else-s-crime-a-teen-was-left-badly-injured-20190120-p50sh6.html 

Doctor says she was assaulted by police while trying to assist injured man

A Melbourne doctor has alleged police assaulted her after she sought to help a barely conscious and bleeding man who was surrounded by officers in April 2018 — and that they then covered up the brutality.

Kim Proudlove, a stepmother of three who specialises in helping people with brain injuries, has spoken publicly about her ordeal and frustration with the Victoria Police complaints system.

Dr Proudlove does not fit the profile of the Victorians most likely to report an adverse experience with police — vulnerable or marginalised people less able to navigate the police complaint system.

She is an experienced doctor with a track record of helping people in need, including a cyclist and pedestrian badly injured in traffic accidents.

But when she tried to help a bleeding and apparently unconscious man surrounded by police, Dr Proudlove has alleged she was subjected to police brutality; after she filmed some of the alleged assault on her phone, she says police deleted it; and after she complained to police internal affairs, she was told by police they were considering charging her with resisting arrest.

Dr Proudlove's story is striking for another reason — her alleged assault occurred just 19 days after a major police brutality scandal was exposed.

In April 2018, 7.30 and The Age revealed explosive CCTV vision of police allegedly assaulting a Melbourne disability pensioner during a mental health welfare check.

That scandal prompted the charging of several officers along with widespread calls for reform of the police complaints system, calls that were later backed by a Victorian parliamentary committee.

Dr Proudlove's confrontation with police began just after 9:00pm on April 22 in Flinders Lane in Melbourne's CBD, after she noticed a man lying in the foetal position in a doorway, bleeding and barely conscious.

Within minutes, it would be Dr Proudlove who was bleeding.

She told 7.30 and The Age she approached the police surrounding the bleeding man and introduced herself as a doctor able to provide aid. "I was very concerned by the large pool of fresh blood, and that no-one was attending to him," she said.

She says police told her to go away, that an ambulance had been called and that the man's injuries were self-inflicted.

"I told them regardless of it being self-inflicted, the bleeding should be stopped with basic first aid while waiting for an ambulance. He wasn't moving and wasn't talking," she said.

Dr Proudlove said after she insisted the man needed help, police officers shoved her against a wall. After she began filming the police on her mobile phone, she says one of the officers attacked her.

"There was an older policeman that came towards me, violently threw me to the ground, put my hands behind my back, and repeatedly punched me in the head," she said.

"I kept asking them to stop and told them that they were hurting me. "I had a police officer put his weight into the back of my knee, which also was very painful.

"They handcuffed me then picked me up and took me to a police van and put me in the back."

Police confiscated her phone but returned it to her in the back of the van, where Dr Proudlove discovered that video she had recorded had been deleted.

After officers dropped her home in a police van, Dr Proudlove's husband raced her to hospital.

"My right ear needed tissue glue to close the wounds, I had a swollen and bruised lip, I had a bump on my head, my knee was extremely sore causing me to limp, and I had multiple other bruises and abrasions all over my body … I was also in shock," she said.

Medical scans confirmed that Dr Proudlove's knee was badly damaged. She had suffered a tibial plateau fracture and ACL rupture.

Dr Proudlove complained to the Police Standards Command about her treatment within hours of her ordeal. After this, she was told she was under criminal investigation for resisting arrest and may face serious charges.

In December, police told Dr Proudlove she would not be prosecuted.

In a statement, a police spokesperson said the case was subject to "an active Professional Standards Command investigation".

"The Senior Constable and Sergeant involved in the alleged incident have been transferred to other duties while the investigation is taking place," the statement said.

"We are unable to provide any further information as the investigation is ongoing."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-21/doctor-claims-she-was-assaulted-by-police/10731622

Police officers slammed after being caught issuing more than 250,000 fake breath tests over five years

This is a bit hard to follow but it appears that they were reporting tests that they did not carry out

An inquiry has slammed Victoria Police for a 'lack of ethics' in a damning new independent review into fake breath-testing.

The inquiry was launched last year after an internal investigation revealed officers had faked 258,463 breath tests over a five-and-half year period.

Retired police commissioner Neil Comrie released the findings of his independent review Taskforce Deliver on Tuesday, which described the rort as 'completely unacceptable' and an 'ethical failure', the Herald Sun reported.

Senior police instructed new recruits to carry out falsified breath tests, according to the review findings.

'It has been a common experience for new recruits to be inducted into the practice early in their careers through instruction from more experienced members,' the report stated.

The report also found that police manipulated breath test devices to boost the number of tests conducted.

A statewide directive was issued in 2017 to increase preliminary breath tests from 3.2 million conducted the previous year to 4.5 million.

The directive was criticised in the report which said it was 'not based on any credible scientific evidence and was based on the number of 'Victorian licence holders at the time.

The report said there was no suggestion any drivers had been wrongly prosecuted and that there was no evidence to suggest the police behaviour was criminal, the Herald Sun reported.

Tests were faked because of the burden of unrealistic quotas for statistical purposes, according to Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt.

“When it becomes more important to meet quotas than to catch drink drivers, the system needs recalibrating,’ he told The Age.

Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane welcomed the findings and said all 23 recommendations would be adopted.

The state government plans to work with Victoria Police to ensure it doesn't happen again.

'It is extremely disappointing and unacceptable that it happened in the first place – it's wrong, it's a breach of trust, and it won't be tolerated,' police minister Lisa Neville said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6594341/Vic-Police-slammed-review-issued-250-000-fake-breath-tests-five-years.html

An incredibly crooked cop

How did she think she could get away with taking people's homes?  People tend to be strongly attached to their homes.  She's got to be a mental case

A Victorian Police officer, who the state's anti-corruption watchdog alleges used her police connections to attempt to take possession of six properties, has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court.

Court documents allege she went to one council office in her police uniform to get details of a property's owner

Rosa Catherine Rossi, from the Geelong suburb of Corio, has been charged with 20 separate offences by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).

They include deceptively and dishonestly trying to gain property, fraudulently claiming welfare payments, stealing, accessing the police database for her own gain, and falsifying documents.

Documents from the court allege she tried to claim ownership of three rural properties in the Western District as well as three suburban Melbourne properties in Chadstone, Malvern East and Brooklyn.

At Willaura, south of Ararat, she is alleged to have targeted the owners of three homes, changing the locks on the properties and submitting false change-of-address documents to the Ararat Rural City Council.

Ms Rossi is also charged with providing false documents in order to secure a loan with the Commonwealth Bank for a property in the town.

Deceased estate claim

At Malvern East, IBAC alleges Ms Rossi told a locksmith the property was a deceased estate in order to convince them to change the locks.

Court documents allege she went to the police station in Footscray and looked up the name and contact details of the owner of that property on the internal LEAP database.

She also lodged a false change-of-address form to the Stonnington City Council, according to the charge sheets.

For the Brooklyn property, court documents claim she went to Hobson's Bay City Council in her police uniform to get details of the property's owner and also submitted a false change-of-address notice.

IBAC investigators also allege she:

set up a fake not-for-profit organisation called Sweet Georgia Pty Ltd;

falsely claimed rental assistance from Centrelink;

falsified statutory declarations about who she was and where she lived.

Ms Rossi will return to court in March

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-14/police-deceive-bank-council-locksmiths-in-alleged-property-scam/10713524

A NSW police arrest of doubtful legality and excessive force

The man had legal precedent to say he was entitled to use FVCK etc on a sign.  He should appeal the verdict and sue the cops

Sydney sandwich board activist Danny Lim has been arrested and fined for offensive behaviour.

Three police officers arrested the 74-year-old at Exchange Place in Barangaroo about 9.20am on Friday. It’s unclear what the offensive behaviour involved.

Video of the arrest shows an officer holding a sandwich board sign that reads: “SMILE CVN’T! WHY CVN’T?"

In August 2018 Lim successfully had a 2015 conviction and $500 fine for offensive conduct overturned over a sandwich board that mocked the then-prime minister Tony Abbott with a rewriting of the word “can’t".

District court Judge Andrew Scotting said it was unlikely the sign would offend the average Australian.

Witnesses to Friday’s arrest criticised police for the manner in which Lim was arrested. “I saw police officers use a completely unnecessary and unacceptable amount of force to arrest Danny for wearing a humorous sign," Christina Halm posted on Facebook.

“There was a crowd of at least 30 who had stopped in their tracks once we realised what was happening, clearly all shocked, gasping and crying at what we were seeing."

Niki Anstiss said Lim was trying to make people smile. “This is disgusting," she wrote. “I saw 3 police officers brutally rip his sign from his back and arrest him while he was screaming for them to not take his sign. He did nothing wrong."

New South Wales police declined to comment when asked about the physicality of Friday’s arrest.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/11/serial-sydney-protester-danny-lim-arrested-for-offensive-behaviour

Another top cop goes to jail -- betrayed by his dick

Queensland put their top cop -- Terry Lewis -- in jail in 1989.  He was betrayed by money

Realistic Australians would always have the lowest possible expectations of their police.  My contact with them has been small  but was completely disappointing.  They failed even the basics.  Can you believe them destroying crucial evidence?  They did.  I protested but to no avail</i>

Former Northern Territory police commissioner John McRoberts has been sentenced to three years in jail, to be suspended after 12 months, for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Last month a jury took nine hours to find McRoberts guilty of the offence, which carries a maximum prison term of 15 years.

The jury found McRoberts tried to "frustrate" or "deflect" a travel agent fraud investigation known as Operation Subutai between May and November 2014.

McRoberts had been in a sexual relationship with the investigation's priority target, former travel agent and NT Crime Stoppers chairwoman Xana Kamitsis, who was sentenced to almost four years' imprisonment on fraud and corruption charges in 2015.

Acting Justice Dean Mildren took less than an hour to summarise the evidence and deliver his sentence at Darwin's Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.

"As commissioner, the public has the right to expect that you can be trusted absolutely," he said. "There is a huge fall from grace."

Between May and November 2014, McRoberts failed to disclose he was in a sexual relationship with Kamitsis.

At the time, McRoberts knew Kamitsis had become a test case for the investigation, which was looking into 27 travel agents suspected of defrauding the NT Health Department's pensioner travel concession scheme.

Acting Justice Mildren said McRoberts had effectively lied by omission. "You failed to disclose to your staff that Kamitsis was an intimate friend and indeed a sexual partner," he said. "The relationship between you was a secret one.

"From the moment that you became aware that Kamitsis was a suspect in Operation Subutai, you knew that full disclosure was required in some form and you also knew you should have no further involvement."

McRoberts' lawyer has filed an appeal of his conviction and an application for bail in relation to the matter is expected to be heard by a Supreme Court judge on Wednesday morning.

During the trial, the prosecution argued McRoberts involved himself in the investigation, knowing he was "hopelessly conflicted", because he wanted stop his relationship with Kamitsis being exposed through a search warrant.

It was alleged McRoberts' criminal course of conduct began in May 2014, when he raised the idea of an alternative civil approach to Operation Subutai, which was then further developed.

McRoberts was also accused of frustrating the execution of a search warrant against Kamitsis in June 2014, by saying to his senior officers: "This is not ready to go to an overt investigation".

During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Mary Chalmers told the court McRoberts abused his position of power and his sentence should reflect this. "[The crime] is one that strikes at the very core of the integrity of the administration of justice," she said.  "He abused his position to achieve his ends."

Defence lawyer Anthony Elliot argued his client's conduct was less serious than other cases of attempting to pervert the course of justice. "We accept that he made a bad decision … that he will continue to pay for, for the rest of his life," he said.

"We accept that he should not have had anything to do with the Kamitsis inquiry. "But we submit that he was placed in the difficult position of it being intertwined with all the others."

Ms Chalmers told the judge McRoberts engaged in "sustained criminal conduct", which amounted to much more than a single "bad decision".

During the trial, more than 5,000 text messages between McRoberts and Kamitsis were submitted as evidence of their relationship.

In his sentencing, Acting Justice Mildren said McRoberts deliberately set out to lead police investigators away from his lover. "Your purpose from at least sometime in about May 2014 was to frustrate and deflect an imminent prosecution of Kamitsis, your motive was to protect Kamitsis as well as yourself from the scandal that access to her mobile phone would inevitably give rise to," he said.

He said the offence struck at the heart of the administration of justice. "It involved a gross misuse of power for primarily personal reasons," he said. "You were, as commissioner of police, expected to uphold the law, not actively to seek to breach it."

Acting Justice Mildren accepted that McRoberts was unlikely to reoffend, and said there was no need to consider special deterrence.

Regarding character references that spoke highly of McRoberts as a police officer and as a person, he said: "You did your best to make a worthwhile contribution to the community that you served", however, he found that McRoberts lacked remorse.

"You have not shown at any stage any recognition of your wrongdoing or any remorse from your actions," Acting Justice Mildren said.

He said the offending was too serious to allow McRoberts to serve his sentence in home detention, and acknowledged his time in prison would be difficult as he has no family in the NT.

"I accept that it will be harder for you … as you will need to be isolated from other prisoners to some degree," he said.

<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-26/john-mcroberts-nt-police-commissioner-sentenced-three-years-jail/9905992">SOURCE</a>

Fremantle couple tasered by WA Police win fight for more than $1.1 million in damages

<i>W.A. cops would have to be the most malodorous in the nation</i>

An innocent Fremantle couple wrongfully tasered by police have won their legal battle against the WA Government for more than $1.1 million in compensation. Law professor Robert Cunningham and his wife Catherine Atoms have welcomed a decision by the WA Supreme Court of Appeal to dismiss an appeal by the Government.

The couple were walking past the Esplanade Hotel at night in November 2008 when they stopped to help a man lying in bushes nearby.

Police arrived shortly afterwards and tasered the couple, before handcuffing them and charging them with obstructing a public officer.  The charges were later dismissed, but the couple took civil action against the Government and three police officers.

Dr Cunningham and Ms Atoms said their quest for justice had been an expensive and gruelling ordeal.  "It will remain a costly exercise and a great concern to Western Australian citizens if the state's role in justice and the rule of law is consigned only to civil procedures," Dr Cunningham said.

"Today's decision will motivate the state to correct their institutional responses for allegations of serious misconduct," she said.

The Government was ordered by justices Michael Buss, Janine Pritchard and Graeme Murphy to pay the couple more than $1.1 million in damages, as well as costs, which are yet to be determined.

The damages were first awarded two years ago by Justice Felicity Davis in a District Court case. But the appeal by the Government over a point of law, determining whether the government or police were liable when police behaved maliciously, put the compensation payment on hold. The appeal judgment found the Government was liable for the full amount of damages.

It marks a rare victory for the couple, who have tirelessly worked for many years to have the police officers brought to justice. An internal police investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing and the Corruption and Crime Commission has refused to reopen an investigation.

The couple has also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees and medical bills, after the unlawful tasering left them with post-traumatic stress disorder and physical injuries.

As a result of the civil action, Ms Atoms was awarded more than $1 million, predominantly for her lost earnings as a consultant, and Dr Cunningham more than $110,000.

Justice Davis found the officers — Glenn Caldwell, Peter Clark and Simon Traynor — had fabricated evidence, abused their powers and falsely imprisoned, assaulted and tasered the couple.

Attorney-General John Quigley said the couple would receive the $1.1 million payment in coming weeks.  "Now that has been determined, the case is over and they will get the money they were awarded by the court.".

He told the WA Parliament in March that he would ask the State Solicitor to look at whether the three officers had committed criminal or disciplinary offences.

A spokeswoman from his office said the matter was still being considered by the State Solicitor.

<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-23/fremantle-couple-tasered-by-wa-police-win-fight-for-compensation/10548772">SOURCE</a>

A life ruined: Man, 73, who spent nearly 20 YEARS in prison over the murder of a top cop is found not guilty on appeal

<i>Eastman was an oddball but the case against him was always just supposition.  I think he did it but I have always said that the evidence just was not there.</i>

A man who spent 19 years in jail for the murder of a federal police assistant commissioner has been found not guilty on appeal of his sentence.

Former Treasury official David Eastman, 73, was charged with the murder of Colin Winchester in 1993, but has always maintained his innocence.

In 2014 concerns arose about problems with original evidence and a new trial began in July 2018.

An ACT Supreme Court jury found Mr Eastman not guilty of the murder after a lengthy - and costly - retrial involving 36,000 pages of evidence and over 100 witnesses, costing taxpayers $6.5 million.

Mr Eastman said 'thank you' to the judge after the verdict was read out. 

Mr Winchester was shot twice in the head as he parked on the driveway next to his Canberra home about 9.15pm on January 10, 1989.

The prosecution alleged Mr Eastman developed a murderous hatred of Mr Winchester, who he blamed for hindering his bid to rejoin the commonwealth public service.

Mr Eastman, a former Treasury official, was charged with the murder in 1993. He pleaded not guilty but in 1995 he was sentenced to life in jail.

He spent 19 years behind bars before being released in 2014 when his conviction was quashed.

The defence counsel told the ACT Supreme Court there were too many unknowns and gaps for the jury to find Eastman guilty.

However, the court heard listening devices placed in Eastman's flat revealed him whispering to himself: 'He was the first man, the first man I ever killed.'

There were audible gasps in the packed courtroom on Thursday as the jury's verdict was read out.

<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6416239/Man-spent-20-YEARS-prison-murder-cop-not-guilty-appeal.html">SOURCE</a>

POLICE ADMIT: SUDANESE 44 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BREAK LAW

After years of evasions, Victoria Police reveals the full catastrophe of the Howard Government's decision to let in poorly educated Sudanese refugees from tribal war zones who'd struggle to fit in.

Sudanese make up just 0.11 per cent of Victoria's population but 4.8 per cent of aggravated burglary offenders.

That makes them 44 times more likely to break the law.

Then there are these statistics:

But Sudanese youths were vastly over-represented in the 2015 data, responsible for 7.44 per cent of home invasions, 5.65 per cent of car thefts and 13.9 per cent of aggravated robberies, despite Sudanese-born citizens making up about 0.11 per cent of Victoria's population.

Nearly 70 times more likely, then, to commit a home invasion than are Australian-born youths.

Yes, most Sudanese do not break the law. Yes, it is nice to help the victims of war. But why have we put so many Victorians in danger by letting in people who so plainly would struggle to adapt?

And why the years of falsehoods and coverup?

Remember the falsehoods once spread by then Chief Commissioner of police Christine Nixon, after Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Sudanese crime rates were too high and he was cutting the immigration intake?:

But worst was the reaction of Victoria Police, led by Labor-appointed Christine Nixon.

Nixon claimed Andrews was wrong about Sudanese crime rates: “They’re not, in a sense, represented more than the proportion of them in the population.”

A police multicultural liaison officer agreed: “There’s an under-representation of the Sudanese in crime stats.”

Those police claims were false. Figures let slip by Nixon the following year revealed crime rates for Sudanese youth at least four times the state average.

And that's now got dramatically worse.

But remember also how the multicultural lobby and media Left vilified Andrews for telling the truth and trying to stop us from importing even more danger?

The ethnic lobby predictably denounced him as a racist, as did Labor politicians.

“It has been a long time since I have heard such a pure form of racism out of the mouth of any Australian politician,” sneered Queensland premier Anna Bligh.

We had a “leadership which allows divisiveness”, stormed the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

And the elite media pack-attacked.

The Age accused Andrews of making “unpleasant and inflammatory” comments to provoke “a predictably base reaction from those sensitive to immigration on racial grounds”.

Where are the apologies? Where's the acknowledgement that the Left made a terrible mistake?

The ABC has also consistently tried to ignore, hide or diminish the problem with specious arguments like this:

Commentators have linked a recent spate of crimes to the so-called Apex gang, heightening anti-migration rhetoric, but police statistics show most home invasions, car thefts and aggravated robberies are committed by people born in Australia.

Of course most such crimes are committed by the dominant demographic, but note the evasions. First, how many of those born in Australia are actually born to Sudanese parents? Second, and more relevant: what is the crime rate of each ethnic group?

Yes, the born-here cohort commit crime, but why are we adding to the problem by importing people 44 times more likely to bash, rob and smash into your home?

<a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/police-admit-sudanese-44-times-more-likely-to-break-law/news-story/8ca308022ba8fbbc4b89ed50504271c5">SOURCE</a> 

Man acquitted of murdering his wife claims police ignored evidence

The W.A. cops are a rough lot so this is all highly believable. Bashing Aborigines is their chief skill.  The Rayney affair is a huge scandal.  All the police involved should be dismissed

A man who was wrongly accused of killing his wife is calling for 'the injustice to end' and for investigators to find her killer.

Barrister Lloyd Rayney was awarded more than $2.6 million in damages against the Western Australian government last year in one of the state's largest defamation payouts.

The payout came after he was publicly named by police as the prime and only suspect in the death of his wife Corryn Rayney in August 2007.

Evidence has since come to light places two violent sexual predators within just blocks of the Rayney's home at the time of the murder.

Corryn Rayney, 44, went to a boot-scooting class on August 7, 2007 and never returned home. Her body was found days later in a sandy grave in Perth's King's Park.

In an interview with 60Minutes, Mr Rayney said there were holes in the investigation.  'It's now been 11 years, it's 11 long years, and someone has literally gotten away with murder,' he said. 'Nothing gets better until her killer is prosecuted.'

Convicted rapist Ivan Eades lived in the same suburb as the Rayneys and a cigarette butt covered in his DNA was found by police outside their house on the day Corryn disappeared.

Eades' cousin, violent paedophile Allon Mitchell Lacco,  lived in an apartment near the Bentley Community Centre, where Ms Rayney was last seen alive.

On the day that Ms Rayney disappeared, phone records show that Lacco had allegedly used the phonebooth near the home.

When Lacco was pulled over by police the day after Ms Rayney's body was found, police found sand in the boot of his car, as well as a knife.

A year later investigators tracked Lacco in Sydney, where they found a diary page for August 2007, the month Ms Rayney was killed, with map of Kings Park and the floor plan of the supreme court - where Ms Rayney was a registrar.

Lacco was interviewed by police but detectives did not take the investigation any further.

A resident of an apartment block near Kings Park also reportedly heard a loud scream from the park on the night Ms Rayney disappeared. Police reportedly discounted the claim.

Police based their case on Mr Rayney on the idea that his wife had been killed in their family home and driven in her body in her car to the park.

But their daughter was home at the time he supposedly killed her and their other daughter was expected home at any time.

Mr Rayney said the case made no sense but the public had formed the opinion that he was guilty based on a police press conference where he was named the main suspect.

Mr Rayney says his life was changed forever from that day, saying his reputation will never survive the trial by media that he faced.

'(The police) did it for maximum humiliation, to cause me maximum embarrassment,' Rayney told 60 Minutes.

After the announcement Mr Rayney had his house egged, had sanitary waste tipped over him at a bar and was publicly vilified.

Three years after the press conference Mr Rayney was charged with murder, and two years after that he was acquitted.

Mr Rayney was awarded more than $2.6million in defamation damages. The damages include nearly $1.8 million in loss of income and $846,000 in damage to his reputation and distress.

He won an appeal and had charges of phonetapping thrown out of court.

His lawyer Martin Bennett said police did not follow the leads they had and had caused irreparable damage to Mr Rayney's reputation.

'This damage will continue for the rest of his career. It hasn't been expunged. All that occurs is people…adjust their view to ''he must be very clever to get away with it''.'

Mr Rayney broke down in tears as he spoke about the moment he had to tell his daughters that their mum had been killed.

'We just put our arms around each other, I tried to comfort them but how do you comfort two girls who have lost their mum?'

Police have not confirmed whether they are investigating Allon Lacco or Ivan Eades in relation to the murder.

Locco is currently behind bars, waiting to be sentenced for unrelated charges, including assault.  Eades' whereabouts in unknown.

<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6274483/Man-acquitted-murdering-wife-claims-police-ignored-evidence-two-sexual-predators-lived-nearby.html">SOURCE</a>

Queensland in court fight with domestic violence victim whose details were leaked by a policeman

The vicious Queensland police again

The Queensland government is fighting a domestic violence victim in court, in an attempt to avoid paying up to $100,000 in compensation for having to relocate her family after her personal details were leaked by a police officer.

The woman, who has been referred to in previous media reports as Julie*, told Guardian Australia she felt "intimidated" by the government’s attempts to brief a senior counsel in the supposedly "accessible" and "inexpensive" Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Julie was forced to go into hiding after a senior constable, Neil Punchard, accessed her address from the police QPRIME database and sent it to her violent former husband, who has been convicted of domestic violence and faces another charge of breaching a domestic violence order.

Punchard then sent text messages to Julie’s former husband joking about the matter.

"Just tell her you know where she lives and leave it at that. Lol. She will flip," Punchard wrote in one message that was later sent to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Punchard was disciplined but not charged with a criminal offence and remains a serving police officer. Julie told the tribunal she remained fearful knowing he still had access to her details.

"An officer gave the details of where I was living, gave them to his mate, using the police database as if it was a Yellow Pages," Julie said during a QCAT hearing in June. "Now, this officer, Neil Punchard, is still in a job. He still has access to the police computer. And I have had to move ... [and] cross my fingers like this and hope he doesn’t do it again.

"I’m already intimidated. I come here today because there is an officer with a gun and a grudge and access to my private details. The damage is done."

Julie launched a breach of privacy claim and is seeking compensation for having to relocate her family after her details were leaked. The matter is being heard by QCAT after she lodged a complaint with the Queensland office of the information commissioner. The maximum payout she can receive is $100,000 and she estimates the ordeal has cost her "much more than that".

The police service is represented in the proceedings by the government legal service, Crown Law Queensland. The lawyers are instructed by the Queensland Government Insurance Fund.

Julie is self-represented in QCAT. She says she wanted to mediate the matter and negotiate a settlement. Instead, the government applied to the tribunal to brief a senior counsel.

During the June hearing, a government solicitor could not give the tribunal a guarantee they would not ultimately pursue Julie for legal costs.

"I’m here trying to recoup the costs that I’ve had to bear after having to relocate and the extra security for my family after the gross breach to my privacy," Julie told QCAT. "I am the victim. Yet, I understand today that the public purse is funding [the defence of] the state and the police union will be funding [the defence of] the officer, no doubt, that disclosed my private details to a violent perpetrator.

"Now, how would it make sense for me to wear the costs of having to brief or bringing in a senior counsel in order to recoup the expense that has been incurred by me so far? I absolutely see this as absurd. The crown has said that this matter is complex. What is complex about this?

"I’m supposed to wear the expense of senior counsel if I want a level playing field. I wish for this to be fair. This goes against everything that QCAT says it is."

The police defence to Julie’s claim is broadly that the state should not be held responsible for the actions of rogue individuals.

Guardian Australia approached the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, with questions about whether this position was an abrogation of the government’s responsibilities in managing and protecting the sensitive personal data of citizens.

Palaszczuk, who is a public advocate for domestic violence victims, was also asked why her government had not sought to support Julie, or to negotiate a settlement with her.

The premier’s office responded with a one-line statement.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on a matter currently before QCAT, just as it would be inappropriate for the premier to intervene or become involved in tribunal proceedings in any way."

Julie has also attempted unsuccessfully through right to information to obtain a copy of her QPRIME file, which would include details about how and when her personal data had been accessed, and by which officers.

Police have refused to hand over the file. She has made a similar application to QCAT but has not yet been granted access.

Police said in a statement the service "has substantial information holdings and takes information privacy very seriously".

Police said that, as of last month, 11 officers had been charged for improperly accessing the system. Eight officers had been stood down from official duties for conducting unauthorised checks of QPRIME and five suspended.

The statement did not respond to specific questions posed by the Guardian, which which included why Punchard had not been charged, and why Julie had been unable to access her police data file. In other cases, people who applied for their files have been granted access.

"[Police] cannot comment further on access to specific information on this system for privacy reasons."

The matter is ongoing.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/21/queensland-in-court-fight-with-domestic-violence-victim-whose-details-leaked-by-policeman">SOURCE</a>

Victoria Police criticised for 'no arrest' policy following violent brawl

Victoria Police top brass are reeling from deepening criticism that their no-arrest policy is failing to tame teen gangs following a violent street brawl that involved more than 200 ­African-Australian and Pacific ­Islander youths and ended in a terrifying car ­attack.

An 18-year-old man was in hospital in a critical condition last night with leg injuries after being hit by a car at the end of a huge fight that broke out at a ­record label launch early yesterday morning.

Five other youths were hospitalised with injuries suffered during a fight in the street.

The latest public brawl involving African-Australian youths comes three weeks after riot police and helicopters were called to control a clash between warring teens in the outer-northwestern suburb of Taylors Hill.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for a tougher approach to policing in Victoria following the latest violent brawl.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton established an African-Australian Community Taskforce in January to deal with youth crime. Since then, there have been several out-of-control parties and violent robberies.

In July, 19-year-old South Sudan­ese woman Laa Chol was stabbed to death after an altercation at an Airbnb party.

Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Kel Glare said the latest event was evidence the police strategy to tame the teens was not working and a new ­approach was needed, including on-the-spot ­arrests.

“I am losing hope this will be solved under the current leadership of Victoria Police,” he said. “If you don’t make arrests on the spot, these kids will just continue to act the way they do … these black African kids are easily identifiable but the police are so risk-averse.”

He said some measures required to make on-the-spot ­arrests during public outbursts of violence could be confronting for the public but were necessary.

“The community needs to know it will take some rough work to make those arrests,” he said.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton echoed Mr Glare’s comments, saying a new approach was necessary because the state Labor government had “lost control”.

“Daniel Andrews has lost control of law and order in Victoria,” he said. “The longer the Premier refuses to act, the more people will be at risk of serious injury.

“It is a disgrace and innocent people are victims to these thugs while Mr Andrews refuses to act.”

Officers were called to Smith Street in inner-suburban Collingwood soon after 2.45am yesterday after reports of a fight between ­African-Australian and Pacific Islander youths leaving the “66 Records Label Launch” at the ­Gasometer Hotel.

The pub’s management declined to comment yesterday.

The teens reportedly ran riot down Smith Street, jumping on cars and brawling as they went, ­before congregating on nearby Mater Street.

Soon after police arrived, a car drove at speed into a group of youths on the side of the street, pinning the 18-year-old against another car and seriously injuring his leg.

Victoria Police is yet to make any arrests but says it anticipates some will be made in coming days.

Mr Glare, chief commissioner from 1987 to 1992, said he did not want police to attack teens but force ultimately would have to be used despite protests from some in the community.

“Most people don’t want to be arrested, and I’m simply saying there will be some physical activity involved. Police shouldn’t go out of their way but appropriate force should be used.

“Of course there is an element of society which will cry from the rooftops about police brutality and all that nonsense. “The vast silent majority will accept that police need to use the force necessary.”

Former NSW police assistant commissioner Clive Small said a review of Victoria’s strategy on dealing with African-Australian youths was needed after multiple violent incidents. “When there are an increasing number of these ­violent events, I always think it’s best to do a proper review of what police are doing and what needs to change,” he said. “These events just seem to be happening in increasing ­numbers.”

Residents who watched as the brawl unfold outside their homes said police were “completely outnumbered” and unable to control the crowd after the car ploughed into pedestrians.

Collingwood resident Josh Whelan detailed horrifying scenes just outside his new apartment, saying the car involved in the ­attack deliberately accelerated before it ploughed into the brawling teens.

“The car came at a very steady pace before it sped up and aimed at the group that were bashing each other … it was unbelievable,” he said. “I wasn’t so scared … I was up here, but I was scared for the people in the street.”

Neighbours in the street reported seeing a car speeding towards the crowd, where it hit a young man and pinned him against ­another car.

Other reports detail gang members being physically ­aggressive to residents who came out of their homes to help the injured after their heard the loud smash.

Mr Whelan said he was shocked to hear police had still not made any arrests after the brawl. “I think the police do a good job but I couldn’t understand that there’s been no arrests,” he said.  “If there’s no arrests, what if they just keep doing stuff like this?”

Another male Collingwood resident speaking to The Australian said he saw a group of about 60 to 70 youths of African appearance starting to brawl outside his window at 2.30 in the morning, and that police were “completely outnumbered” and “unable to control the crowd”.

North West Regional Commander Tim Hansen said persons of interest had left the scene very quickly but they had identified the driver of the car and were planning to talk to him. Mr Hansen said he expected to make an arrest in the next 24 hours.

Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville rejected suggestions that police needed to change their strategy, and said there was evidence its current strategy, as well as new officers boosting numbers in the force, were contributing to a fall in the rate of violent crime.

Victoria chief executive Wayne Gatt said the event demonstrated that police did not have the numbers they needed to be a visible presence in trouble spots around the city.

He also defended police who prioritise dispersing crowds over making arrests, reasoning that each arrest takes two officers away from the frontline and could leave the rest of the team exposed ­during a large flare-up.

But he agreed with a suggestion that a lack of arrests would “100 per cent, absolutely” embolden troublemakers to act out again.

“We’re coming from behind the eight-ball,” Mr Gatt told 3AW.  “Years ago, we would have had police walking in and out of ­licensed venues every Friday and Saturday night, checking on patrons, looking for trouble spots (but) we simply don’t have the same numbers anchored to police ­stations.”

<a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/top-cops-condemned-over-noarrest-policy/news-story/235cef37d1ed20b0ac02d0f09f83fdc6">SOURCE</a> 

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‘It’s victim-blaming’: Lauren Southern tour organiser refuses to pay $68,000 bill from Victoria Police

The police are already paid by the taxpayer to protect people from attack.  They are trying to have a second bite of the apple if they want to charge people for the protection they give.  It is in fact a protection racket.  Al Capone would be proud of them

THE company behind right-wing Canadian commentator Lauren Southern’s Australian tour has refused to pay a $68,000 security bill, accusing Victoria Police of "enabling the thugs’ veto".

Axiomatic Events was sent an invoice for police services after violent left-wing protesters targeted the Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux Live event in Melbourne on July 20, closing roads and assaulting officers.

A similar bill was sent to Penthouse magazine after violent scenes outside a Milo Yiannopoulos event in December last year. That bill has also not been paid.

In a statement on Monday, Axiomatic Events director Dave Pellowe said he was concerned paying the "crippling" bill would create a dangerous precedent. "The Andrews Government has the gall to call this ‘user pays’ policing, but the reality is that it’s victim-blaming," Mr Pellowe said.

"Our event was a normal-sized crowd in a venue that routinely hosts such crowds. We broke no laws and went above and beyond to co-operate with police, and greatly appreciate the work they do.

"But if Police Minister Lisa Neville is looking for creative ways to fundraise for Victoria Police she can keep looking.

"The fair and just way to go about it would be to issue a $1000 fine to every thug who blocked the highway, who abused and intimidated the mums, dads and kids who came along, who damaged private property and turned Melbourne into a Berkeley war zone.

"Sending us the bill for their lawlessness appears to be simply enabling the thugs’ veto."

Axiomatic Events said members of Antifa-associated groups "spat, screamed and uttered abuse at the men and women boarding and alighting from the buses" and that "a number of male members of the … groups displayed their genitals to people boarding and alighting the buses".

In a letter to Victoria Police on Monday, Axiomatic Events’ solicitor said any attempt to recover the fee "will be vigorously resisted".

"The imposition of fees for the performance of essential police purposes is unlawful," the letter said. "The role of Victoria Police is to serve the Victorian community and uphold the law so as to promote a safe, secure and orderly society."

Victoria Police had previously argued it was acceptable to charge organisers of a commercial event for security, but the letter argues it is "the ordinary discharge of a core police responsibility".

"That such events have commercial aspect in no way deprives citizens attending them of an entitlement to have recourse to police protection if they are threatened," it said.

"The victims of politically motivated violence and intimidatory conduct at public events are no less entitled to proper police protection merely because they purchased a ticket to participate in an event."

It said "extremist groups" such as Antifa "follow the same the strategy each time political conservatives gather to listen to speeches by other conservatives".

According to the letter, that three-part strategy is first "to announce an intention to organise violent street opposition to the holding of a particular public event and enlist support for that opposition from the media".

Two, "to elicit a fear on the part of those arranging the public event that the safety of participants and attendees may be at risk and cannot be guaranteed without police protection".

Three, "to rely upon the police to impose massive financial penalties upon those arranging such events so that those events that have been scheduled are cancelled and those that are in planning are abandoned".

"If Victoria Police is obliged to be complicit in this strategy that is a matter of serious concern," it said. "It is subversive of public confidence in the rule of law."

Mr Pellowe said he was aware of other political groups changing their plans to specifically avoid a "$68,000 police bill".

"The effect this has on important public debates is devastating," he said.

"We cannot let this stand. I implore Premier Daniel Andrews and Police Minister Lisa Neville to commit to upholding the peace at future political events without blaming the victims and to reconsider the comfort they’re inadvertently lending to the thugs’ veto."

It comes after fellow Canadian right-wing commentator Gavin McInnes predicted similar protests when he tours Australia in November, warning "people will show up and if they want to fight, I’m happy to fight".

In a statement sent to news.com.au, a spokesman for Victoria Police said it had the right to charge any event organiser for the use of public resources.

"The invoice has been forwarded to the Victorian Government Solicitor for advice. From here any unpaid invoice will be forwarded to Corporate Finance for a decision to be made regarding the civil recovery for the outstanding debt," the statement said.

<a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/its-victimblaming-lauren-southern-tour-organiser-refuses-to-pay-68000-bill-from-victoria-police/news-story/7b3e437771edaea4821b875a2719f2c1">SOURCE</a>